Florence Hagins: Mother, activist

Florence McCarthy Hagins, the former assistant director of the Dorchester-based Massachusetts Affordable Housing Authority (MAHA) and a longtime Dorchester resident, died on March 20 at her home in Jacksonville, Florida. She leaves behind a legacy of hard work and dedication to the affordable housing program in Dorchester.

Ms. Hagins was born in Roxbury in 1948 and lived in the Boston area until her retirement from MAHA in 2005. She was a mother and community activist who persuaded bank presidents to increase mortgage lending in Boston’s neighborhoods of color. And she was the first homeowner to enter into an affordable mortgage program that would undo decades of redlining by area banks.

In a statement released by MAHA this week, the organization note: “We lost our friend, mentor, colleague, and inspiration. The many contributions she made to MAHA, her neighborhood, city, and state will never be forgotten.”

Ms. Hagins became a full-time employee at MAHA in 1996 and counseled thousands of first-time homebuyers over her nine years in the organization. Of that work, she once said, “It’s such a great feeling to think that you actually helped somebody. Then, as a homeowner, the stabilization of your own community makes a big difference.”

MAHA plans to create an endowment in her honor, according to executive director Tom Callahan, that will “ensure that Florence’s legacy continues to support the mission of MAHA well into the future. We plan to build the endowment over the next couple of years so it will provide permanent, ongoing support for promoting affordable and responsible homeownership in Dorchester and throughout greater Boston.”

MAHA board president Esther Maycock-Thorne described Ms. Hagins as “a leader in every sense of the word. Florence was truly inspirational. She inspired other community residents to follow her lead in asking banks to make commitments to our neighborhoods, and she inspired those of us lucky enough to get to work with her each day with her determination to break down barriers for low- and moderate-income homebuyers. “

On behalf of her family, Ms. Hagins’s daughter Andraea Green, wrote, “Our family would like to thank everyone for their kind words, prayers, love and support.”

In lieu of flowers, the family is requests that mourners give to the Hagins Endowment Fund at MAHA.

in the name of Florence Hagins and sent to 1803 Dorchester Ave., 02124.