in Vice, June 30, 2014 by Johnny Magdaleno 

Photo by John Hulsey

Five miles south of Boston’s city center, in the neighborhood of Dorchester, an empty white house sits at the junction of Norwell and Athelwold streets. Rising from the peak of its roof is a red brick chimney and, next to it, a long, silver spear. It’s an uncommon roof ornament for a neighborhood of mostly working-class families—not as busy with prongs as the iconic rake antennae, and curiously taller than the chimney it parallels. But when members of Boston activist organization City Life/Vida Urbana occupied this house on the morning of June 7, the roof antenna was one of the first, and most pivotal, announcements of their arrival.

in The Boston Globe on June 16, 2014 by Lawrence Harmon

THE DIFFICULTY of finding and holding onto an economical rental unit in Boston is enough to make a grown man cry. Not just any man, but Stephen Key, a Hall of Fame member of the World Martial Arts Federation. Key, 53, has shown the skill and courage needed to reach grandmaster status in kung fu. Yet he shed tears last week while describing his efforts to keep a roof over the head of his wife and three children on Norwell Street in Dorchester after government-sponsored mortgage giant Fannie Mae foreclosed on his former landlord and moved to evict the building’s tenants.

on Boston Magazine Online, June 12, 2014 by Steve Annear

Boston Police swiftly cleared out furniture and other living amenities from a foreclosed Dorchester home this week, owned by Fannie Mae, after two people occupied it as part of a protest to rising housing costs, predatory loans, and evictions citywide.

in The Boston Globe on June 12, 2014, by Paul McMorrow, Globe Columnist

MASSACHUSETTS PICKED a fight with the federal government and the companies behind half the country’s mortgages last week. Attorney General Martha Coakley’s decision to sue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nationalized mortgage giants, is a preemptive strike meant to defend the state’s tough foreclosure prevention laws. It’s also a serious uphill slog. Chicago was the last government to take on Fannie and Freddie, and it lost the fight badly.

Karen Chen of the Chinese Progressive Association and Darnell Johnson of Right to the City talk about a new report on steps needed to reverse the widening affordability gap in Boston's housing market. Interview for BNN News. Aired June 11, 2014.

https://vimeo.com/97976056

In The Boston Globe on June 11, 2014, by Jacqueline Tempera

A coalition of community groups protested outside a foreclosed Dorchester home Tuesday and called for more affordable housing in Boston.

The group, made up of seven nonprofit organizations, took to Norwell Street for the second time this week. Over the weekend, the group attempted to move a homeless family into the vacant house, only to be driven out by law enforcement officials, said Darnell Johnson, a coalition spokesman.

in Sampan Newspaper on June 10, 2014, by Right to the City and the Boston Tenant Coalition

Stop evictions and rent inflation—hear the call of the renter nation! Chants echoed down the street as Right to the City and the Boston Tenant Coalition held a rally and press conference June 10, announcing the release of The Rise of the Renter Nation, a national report on affordable housing. Today’s press conference in the Four Corners neighborhood was one of nine actions taking place in cities across the country.

Attorney General Martha Coakley filed a lawsuit against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in Suffolk Superior Court today, saying the two federally-backed mortgage giants are in violation of Massachusetts law because they refuse to participate in programs which allow delinquent homeowners to "buy back" their homes at reduced prices. - See full article at: http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/news159787.html#sthash.fzYsmwI3.dpuf

in The Boston Globe on June 8, 2014, by Claire McNeill

By Dave Goodman

BOSTON/Dorchester – The vacant two family house on Norwell Street in Dorchester stands as a reminder that the foreclosure crisis continues to haunt Boston. But starting on Saturday morning and continuing throughout the weekend, the house will be filled with the sounds of activists and media makers as Jamaica Plain based advocacy organization, City Life/Vida Urbana, occupies the property and commences a pirate radio broadcast of the proceedings.