ONE notebook: Wilde proud of legacy, knows Mercado will build on mission

ONE Mortgage

Posted on January 31, 2022

By Lisa Braxton

LOWELL --- Since stepping down on January 1, 2022, as executive director of Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership (MVHP), Jim Wilde has added three more items to his “to-do” list:

Officially retire from MVHP at the end of October.
Begin the first leg of a years-long trip around the world.
Come back to MVHP as a volunteer.

“At the end of October, three things will have happened,” Wilde said. “We will have reached 20,000 graduates, I will be here 30 years, and I’ll be turning 68. This confluence makes it a good time to make the transition.”

Unlike many prospective retirees who are adamant about putting their former job in their rearview mirror, Wilde says he stands firm in his plan to return to the nonprofit.

Mercado, Wilde: Lack of inventory makes it tough

“I could do grant writing, help teach classes, counseling, all kinds of stuff like that,” he said. Wilde added that being part of MVHP “gets exponentially more rewarding as time goes on,” especially watching people build generational wealth. Many of those he instructed in homebuyer education classes are now parents sending their kids to the classes. He joined the fledgling organization in 1992 when it was in transition, a nonprofit housing developer needing to change direction.

Within a couple of years, Wilde was leading a statewide collaborative that created the first comprehensive homebuyer curriculum that has become a model organization. A couple of decades ago he oversaw the creation of the Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership Endowment Fund. He said there is close to $600,000 in the endowment to fund the organization for perpetuity, something he’s especially proud of. MHP's ONE Mortgage Program requires homebuyers to take an education class and most Lowell area residents who bought their home with ONE went through classes at MVHP, most recently this couple from Tyngsborough.

Wilde estimates that two years will have elapsed between the kickoff of his travels and his return to MVHP, ample time for him to have distance from the place and not be in the shadows as his colleague and successor, Cathy Mercado puts her stamp on the organization as its leader.

The passing of the baton has involved significant preparation. MVHP hired a management consultant who helped with defining goals during the transition. The board of directors helped with shaping the agency’s direction as well.

Another aspect of the preparation was Wilde mentoring Mercado for her new role. “Cathy really believes in our mission,” he said. “We are so fortunate to have a really quality, dedicated, passionate person in this role. She really knows the industry and I feel great leaving it in somebody’s hands like Cathy.”

“We need to collaborate more and make sure we’re pushing our representatives, our state representatives, local representatives to make sure that they really pay attention to housing.”

Cathy Mercado, Executive Director, MVHP

Mercado has a long history with MVHP. Born to parents of Puerto Rican descent, she grew up in public housing and was determined to become the first homeowner in her family and set an example for her young daughter. She enrolled in MVHP’s homebuyer training class and years later bought her Lowell home.

“I never thought that owning a home was something in my reach,” she said, “or that I would ever own anything in my life. Growing up all you saw was poverty and drugs.”

She is proud that her daughter purchased her home several years ago at the age of 23 and is engaged to be married. “She didn’t become a statistic. She’s my biggest accomplishment, and I want to be around to give other people the opportunity that my daughter had, to build generational wealth, to feel a sense of belonging.”

After Mercado purchased her home, she went to work for MVHP as project coordinator. After some career moves, she returned to the agency and let Wilde know she wanted to become executive director when he retired.

Mercado is proud to lead MVHP and sees the symbolism members of the community will see in her selection for the top post. “I’m from the community, a participant of the program and I’m one of the very few—there are about 700 nonprofits in the city and their may be less than five executive directors who are women or women of color. And that’s huge.”

Advocating for homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income earners and collaborating with other housing-related organizations are two areas Mercado is emphasizing as she moves MVHP forward.

“I want to make sure that we connect all gateway cities and the city of Boston to do advocacy work together because all of these organizations are going through the same thing. We need to collaborate more and make sure we’re pushing our representatives, our state representatives, local representatives to make sure that they really pay attention to housing.”

And after he reaches his 30 years and takes a hiatus, Wilde will be back to help Mercado champion these objectives.

“Jim has been an outstanding mentor,” she said. “He’s a special kind of person. He is the best leader I’ve had. He believed in me, and he is a big part of where I am today.”

ONE+Boston continues to reach encouraging numbers

MHP’s partnership with the City of Boston to increase homeownership in the city continues to notch encouraging numbers. ONE+Boston closed eight loans in January 2022, bringing the total number of ONE+Boston loans closed to 160 since the program began in June 2020. ONE+Boston combines the low-cost features of the statewide ONE Mortgage program with city funds to offer discounted interest rates and increased down payment assistance to first-time buyers.

Statewide ONE Mortgage numbers

The statewide ONE Mortgage Program helped 47 buyers close on their first home in January, representing $13.7 million in low-cost, fixed-rate private bank financing. The average purchase price of these homes is up 3 percent from last January, rising from $321,000 last year to $331,000 this past month. To figure out what you can afford, check out the ONE Mortgage calculator.

(This notebook was compiled by MHP Communications Coordinator Lisa Braxton. MHP Program Manager Isabel Cruz contributed to this report. Questions or comments? Email lbraxton@mhp.net).

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