"They're teaching at Harvard but [realize] Harvard isn't a good neighbor," Lee says. "Living in Boston, they want to contribute to the neighborhood."

Lee says in the coming year HOP hopes to leverage more funds from outside grants and to expand its base of contributors at Harvard.

"A lot of [the contributors] are the same people who were involved at the beginning," she says. "We send out letters to people who have given in the past but don't really solicit new professors. We want to expand there."

With more money, Lee says, the program would be able to give out higher loans, a necessary change because of rising rents.

"We've found that increasingly, $400 isn't enough," she says.

The group also plans to establish a more prominent presence in the metropolitan area with the creation of a community advisory board.

Stallings says the board would include representatives from local banks, management companies, church groups, legal counsel and community development corporations.

She also says she hopes the board will include a representative from Harvard's office of government, community and public affairs. Last year, the office headed a University initiative to provide $20 million for affordable housing in Boston and Cambridge.