“The tenants absolutely have an opportunity to express their concerns at these meetings and they will be listened to,” he says. “It’s up to them to make time and show up.”

Yet even residents who find the time to attend the meetings are skeptical about whether their input will make a difference in the planning process, says Charlene DiCalagero, who works for the local Homes for All initiative.

“The tenants are a bit discouraged,” she says of fellow residents who attend the meetings. “We’ve consistently been treated with condescension.”

But McHale and other community leaders remain more optimistic about the input process and the potential for Harvard to help, rather than hurt, Allston’s housing situation.

“I like what I see, until I see differently,” McHale says. “I’m going out a limb with them. It could be a house of cards, but there’s also amazing win-win potential.”

At the recent community meeting, Harvard planners reiterated that they remain “very committed” to the University’s goal of improving Allston’s affordable housing stock.

But as the community looks forward to addressing a slew of other issues related to Harvard’s expansion, at the moment residents are most anxious to see how Harvard fulfills its housing commitment.

“They can say whatever they want,” De Lorenzo says from the kitchen of her Charlesview apartment. “But it all depends on whether they actually do something.”

—Staff writer Alexander L. Pasternack can be reached at apastern@fas.harvard.edu.