Russell Brink, who grew up in the Hanover, N.H., area, but has spent most of his professional life working in development around Eugene, Ore., will take over the nonprofit housing organization on Aug. 13.
Brink has been spending time at the offices in Springfield and said he is ready to help the organization meet a number of the challenges that will arise in the coming months.
The land trust will begin renovating its apartments in Bellows Falls this year and while Brink was just starting to learn about the project, he said the planned rehabilitation is likely to be one of the group's largest projects in recent memory.
"It is still in the planning stage but we are moving forward," he said. "There are a lot of moving pieces and parts but I don't think there are any gaps in the funding."
Representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which will provide some of the grants, will tour the site later this month and Brink said as far as he can tell, everything so far is on schedule for the group to start construction this fall.
The boards from the town of Rockingham and the village of Bellows Falls are both watching the project closely.
The RACLT apartments are not in great shape and there have been issues with some of the tenants and the way the properties have been managed.
Two different housing committees
"It is critical for the community to be involved with what we do," he said. "I do not know much about the past relationship, but if it has not been so good, then let's make it better. It is completely valid for the town and village to look after their own interests."
Brink graduated from Hanover High School and studied urban planning at Colorado College where he graduated with a degree in political science.
In Eugene, he participated in a number of nonprofit organizations that worked with youth and the homeless, and worked for a development group that addressed issues around the Columbia River.
RACLT Board president Donna Allen said Brink has a long line of work behind him that makes him a good fit to lead the organization.
"The board looks forward to welcoming Russ Brink, who has spent more than two decades serving the not-for-profit sectors on redevelopment projects including affordable housing projects," Allen said.
Brink was learning about the ongoing and developing projects that the group has going in Chester, Springfield and Windsor, as well as Bellows Falls.
He said the approaching winter will be as challenging to the organization as any development project.
The high cost of heating fuel will have an impact on the group's low income residents, and the group as well will struggle to balance its books while paying the high fuel costs.
Some apartments have yearly leases, and RACLT will have find other cost savings as it struggles to pay for heating.
And for the residents who pay their own heat, it may become a question of meeting the rent, filling the fuel tank or eating as oil prices are expected to be at all-time highs this winter.
"It's going to be a challenge for everybody," said Brink. "Affordable housing is going to be particularly affected by these fuel prices. Someone was saying that this is our Hurricane Katrina and I don't think that is hyperbole. It is going to be very tough."
Though he has been outside of New England for more than 20 years, Brink has been a diehard Red Sox fan, and he looks forward to being in the epicenter of Red Sox Nation during the pennant run.
His son Alex is a quarterback from Washington State University who was drafted by the Houston Texans in the NFL and is trying to make the team this year.
Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached at hwtisman@reform-er.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 279.
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