Boston City Council Approves $30 Million for Affordable Housing, Passes Anti-Gang Violence Grant

BOSTON -- July 8, 2026, Boston City Council approves $30 million for affordable housing and a $1 million anti-gang grant while rejecting a resolution to restore BPS jobs. At the July 8 meeting, Councillor Sharon Durkan led passage of Docket 0968, authorizing the Mayor's Office of Housing to expend $30 million from the Inclusionary Development Policy Fund across 10 nearly complete affordable housing projects in Roxbury, Mattapan, East Boston, Dorchester, and Chinatown. The council also accepted a $1,073,239 Shannon Community Safety Initiative grant, though Councillor Culpepper warned the reduction from roughly $3 million cuts the number of funded nonprofits from more than 35 to 17. A resolution calling for a supplemental budget to rehire more than 500 laid-off BPS paraprofessionals and teachers, filed by Councillors Flynn and Murphy, fell one vote short of passage, 6-yes to 3-no with two present. The council unanimously adopted a resolution by Councillor Ruthzee Louijeune, the first Haitian-American elected to the council, denouncing the Supreme Court's ruling allowing termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian and Syrian nationals. Councillors also referred to committee hearing orders on transit equity along Blue Hill Avenue, Blackstone Pool repairs, BPS HVAC upgrades, and a community-based summer public safety plan filed as a late item by Councillor Culpepper after 13 people were shot and two killed in the city over the July 4 weekend.