The Gloucester Housing Partnership, a nonprofit organization that provides basic home repair for the elderly, disabled and low-income families in Gloucester, has a new leader at its helm, one who has committed that 2017 will be “the year of growth” for the organization.

Traci Jackson, a longtime supporter of the GHP, started as its executive director on Jan. 3 and has hit the ground running.

“We’re preparing to do even more this year, as five new applications for assistance were received the first week of January,” Jackson said. She said she hopes to increase the use of volunteers from the community in the coming year to help get more projects completed at a lower cost.

“I believe that people genuinely want to be involved in something good and the GHP is that something good,” Jackson said. Another goal of the organization, she said, is to obtain 50 percent of its job costs from outside resources and partnering sponsors.

Another one of Jacks...