Health care professionals have long known that housing plays a significant role in health outcomes for children, teenagers, adults and seniors.  Inadequate, substandard housing can have a negative effect on a person’s physical and mental health. Today, as rents skyrocket in all parts of Massachusetts, households face unaffordability of rent, fear of eviction, overcrowding and homelessness that directly impacts every member of the household. 

For the past 15 years, the Coalition has been working on the intersection of housing and health as it relates to low-income families and individuals, including the elderly and unaccompanied homeless youth, through our Casa Project Initiative. Casa Project is an upstream homelessness prevention program that partners with community health centers, public schools, early intervention providers and community-based programs in communities that have high rates of poverty. Casa Project embeds highly trained housing advocates within our community partnering locations making it possible for families, individuals, elders and unaccompanied youth to access assistance on their housing issue where they are already receiving services. Since its inception, Casa Project has helped 15,971 households confronting a housing emergency to resolve it.