About Us

We fund new construction, rehabilitation as well as major repairs and renovations. Grants range from $25,000 to $100,000, to construct or preserve affordable housing for individuals and families of low or moderate income. See Grant Guidelines for more details.

Our History

Edwin Ginn (1838-1914) founded the Charlesbank Homes Foundation in 1911. Ginn grew up in a humble farming family in Maine, graduated from Tufts University, and eventually founded Ginn & Co, one of the largest educational publishing companies in the country. He turned his considerable wealth to charitable endeavors including constructing a five-story building that contained apartments for families in need and housed up to 500 people. The Charlesbank Home, as it was called, operated successfully until 1960, when urban renewal in Boston’s West End led to its demolition. Ginn also endowed what later became the World Peace Foundation. He lived in Winchester, Massachusetts from 1886 until his death in 1914 and was one of the town’s greatest and most influential benefactors. In his will, Ginn urged Charlesbank Trustees to provide “comfortable living quarters, at a reasonable price, for working girls and students.” Today the foundation continues the legacy of Edwin Ginn by funding capital grants for the construction and preservation of affordable housing in Massachusetts.

Trustees

  • Felicia Jacques

  • Jason Law, CFA

  • John O’Neill

  • Mark Winkeller

  • Russ Tanner

  • Stephanie Page

    Trustee Emeritus: Thomas W. Cornu, Richard H. Sayre

  • Jeanne Pinado, President

  • Kathryn Roy, Vice President and Assistant Treasurer

  • Philip J. Notopoulos, Vice President and Secretary

  • Bruce Berzin, Treasurer

  • Elizabeth A. Hibbard


Past Grants

Here are the grants made over the last 3 years in Massachusetts

5/1/2025 - 4/30/2026 -- $1,132,600 in Grants

Abby Keller Foster House, Worcester
Repairs to 29-unit house for women of below 50% AMI

ACEDONE, Worcester
Construct 9 affordable homes for 39 people

Bellevue Veterans Community, Oak Bluffs
Construct 12 1-bedroom housing for veterans earning between 30% - 80% AMI

Community Development Partnership, Orleans
Repairs to a sober house with 10 people

Fenway Forward, Boston
Construst 3 homes for 13 people restricted to 80% AMI

Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston, Roslindale
Construst 4 homes for 16 people restricted to 80% AMI

Habitat for Humanity Greater Plymouth, Plymouth
Construct 3 homes for 6 people restricted to 80% AMI

Habitat for Humanity North Central MA, Leominster
Construct a 3-bedroom, 2-bath home for a family earning < 60% of AMI

Jewish Family & Children’s Service, Brighton
Renovate 4 baths in a 16-unit home for neuro-divergent children

Lynn Shelter Association, Lynn
Infrastructure for a shelter for 115 people

Old Colony Habitat for Humanity, Tauton
Construct a 3-bedroom, 1.5-bath home for a family under 80% AMI

SAIL Home, Scituate,
Construst 8 units of housing for individuals with disabilities

Sojourner House, Roxbury,
Repair flooring in a homeless shelter serving 50 individuals

South Shore Habitat for Humanity, Easton,
Construct 2 affordable homes with 3-bedrooms and 2-baths

St. Francis House, Boston
Install vinyl carpet at a 56-room permanent shelter

Supportive Living, Woburn
Renovations for 56 brain injured residents and clients

YMCA of the North Shore, Haverhill
Replace hot water heaters at 22-room for 75-units of housing for people under 60% AMI


5/1/2024 - 4/30/2025 -- $1,007,500 in Grants

Boston Neighborhood Community Land Trust, Dorchester
Update a heating system and insulation for a 3-family home

Commonwealth Land Trust, Roxbury Crossing
Create 24 studio units

Community Action for Better Housing, New Bedford
Restoration of a 26-unit building damaged by fire

Community Teamwork, Lowell
Construct 19 efficiency units for the homeless or disabled

Father Bill's and Mainspring, Stoughton
Convert a vacant motel and 2 adjacent buildings into 24 affordable studio apartments

Family Aid (formerly Traveler's Aid), Lowell
Convert a nursing home into 42 units for homeless families

Habitat for Humanity - Buzzards Bay, Westport
Construct a duplex

Habitat for Humanity - Cape Cod, Dennis
Develop 2 affordable homes

Habitat for Humanity - Greater Lowell, Concord
Renovate a 3-bedroom, single family home

Habitat for Humanity - North Central Mass., Leominster
Construct a 3-bedroom house

Haley House, Boston
Renovate a kitchen

NOAH, East Boston
Develop a 7-unit home ownership building

Old Colony Habitat for Humanity, Norton
Renovate a 3-bedroom home

Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity, Northampton
Construct a 3-bedroom home

Planning Office for Urban Affairs (POUA), Mattapan
Construct a 30-unit one-bedroom home

South Shore Habitat for Humanity, Easton
Construct a 3-bedroom home

The Haven Project, Lynn
Capital repairs for an 8-room SRO

The Neighborhood Developers, Malden
Construct 5 affordable deed-restricted condominiums

Worcester Common Ground, Malden
Construct 3 affordable deed-restricted homes

5/1/2023 - 4/30/2024 -- $990,240 in Grants

Abby Foster Keller House, Worcester
Renovate a building and increase number of beds from 9 to 18

Allston Brighton CDC, Allston
Renovate a 14 unit SRO supportive housing project

Catholic Charities
Increase adult men's residential recovery home to 56 beds

Dismas House, Oakham
Construct 6 bedrooms of permanent affordable housing

Habitat for Humanity Metro West, Sturbridge
Construct a 3 bedroom affordable home

Harborlight Community Partners
Construct 23 units of affordable housing

Heading Home, Cambridge
Repairs for a 10 unit SRO

Hilltown CDC, Chester
Renovations of 17 units of affordable housing

Independent Housing Solutions, Northhampton
Renovation to support 16 homeless individuals

Lawrence Community Works, Lawrence
Construct four 3-bedroom affordable townhouses

Planning Office of Urban Affairs, Wrentham
Renovations for 8 victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation

Sojourner House, Inc., Roxbury
Repairs to a 50 unit homeless shelter

South Middlesex Opportunity Council, Inc., Lowell
Repairs to a 6 unit homeless shelter

South Shore Habitat for Humanity, Cohasset
Construct two 3-bedroom condominiums

Wellspring House, Inc., Gloucester
Repairs to a 5 unit emergency shelter