At the Newton City Hall War Memorial on April 15, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller received the 2025 Sheila Mondshein Award for Outstanding Leadership in Promoting Fair Housing.
The award is granted annually by the Newton’s Fair Housing Committee. The group’s mission is to create diverse housing accommodations free of discrimination.
“This sense of needing to fight and to persist feels overwhelming right now,” said Fuller. She said she fears that equitable housing will be negatively impacted and targeted by the Trump administration and that funding for housing grants will be withheld.
In her acceptance speech, Fuller addressed many in the assembled crowd individually, thanking them for helping her approach issues related to attaining affordable housing and minimizing housing disparity.
Several speakers spoke to Fuller’s merit for the award, citing her commitment to expanding Newton’s affordable housing since she took office in 2018, as well as her work as a City Councilor. Among her accomplishments, Fuller helped create Newton’s Affordable Housing Trust, which approved funding of 112 affordable units on North Street.
Esther Schlorholtz, chair of Newton’s Fair Housing Committee and the first speaker at the event, commended Fuller’s career of accomplishments, especially her efforts as Mayor in regard to fair housing initiatives. “Mayor Fuller supported fair housing training and programs to help low income families,” she said.
Other speakers – Amy Schectman, CEO of 2Life Communities, a development group dedicated to creating affordable senior housing, and Brooke Lipsitt, former president of the City Council and vice-chair of Newton’s Zoning Board of Appeals – also highlighted their personal and professional relationships with Fuller and the Mayor’s contributions to the community and effective advocacy for fair and affordable housing.
Last year’s recipient of the award, Newton City Councilor Deborah Crossley, said in her speech, “[Fuller is] the first mayor to adequately fund the zoning reform and planning efforts that can enable housing opportunity.” She said that the Mayor’s fiscal planning has allowed for long-term housing projects to become a reality.
The ceremony began with a video dedicated to pivotal civil rights strides made by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, co-sponsored by Republican Senator Edward Brooke, of Newton, and Democratic Senator Walter Mondale. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status, disability, or national origin. Fuller said the video is the “soundtrack of [her] life.”
Fuller highlighted specifically the accomplishments of Newton’s Director of Planning and Development, Barney Heath, and insisted that he share the award with her. She said, “I’m grateful for many of you teaching me, leading me, helping me, and being on this journey together.”
At the end of the ceremony, Fuller invited all the many fair housing advocates and implementers in the room to join her in a celebratory photograph.
