Posted August 14, 2023; last updated August 24th Statement in Support of the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s Call to Action for Families Experiencing Homelessness, Appeal for Coordinated
Posted April 20, 2023; last updated June 14th Weigh in with the FY24 budget conferees and your State Representative and Senator today!
Please join us at the State House or online this Monday, April 10th for the Joint Committee on Ways and Means’ public hearing on the fiscal year 2024 state budget. Share your support for key investments and budget language related to housing, homelessness prevention, and benefits programs.
Posted April 4, 2023; last updated September 26th 2023-2024 Bill Priorities: 2023-2024 bill priority overview fact sheet 2023-2024 bill priority chart Overall bill (and budget)
Many tenants in Massachusetts facing an eviction currently can get a continuance from the court if they show that they have a pending application for benefits under the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program or another short-term emergency rental assistance program. In addition, the court cannot issue a judgment or an eviction execution before the application is approved or denied.
Without action, however, this important eviction prevention tool provided under a law known as Chapter 257 is set to expire on Friday, March 31st.
Join us in signing this online action today to legislators from the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless and Massachusetts Law Reform Institute: https://tinyurl.com/ch257action
Casa Project Advocate Job Description ABOUT THE MASSACHUSETTS COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS: The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless (MCH) is a private non-profit agency dedicated
Community Organizer/Legislative Advocate Job Description ** This position has been filled. Thank you for your interest! ** Overview: The Community Organizer/Legislative Advocate will have lead
Posted October 18, 2022; last updated November 16, 2022 Yesterday, the Coalition, along with Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, delivered
If you are with an organization, please also sign on to our organizational letter to legislators to eliminate the new notice to quit requirement in
Posted July 27, 2022
Posted July 25, 2022
Posted June 23, 2022 Recap of Conference Committee Priorities: · Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (line item 7004-9316): o Funding request: At least match
Posted June 14, 2022 At the end of May, the State Senate wrapped up their budget. Last week, the three House and three Senate
Posted May 23, 2022; last updated May 26th What would the Everyone Needs ID/Mass ID access bill do? Senate Bill 2276/House Bill 3515
Posted May 5, 2022
Posted March 8, 2022; last updated March 31st Massachusetts YOUth Count 2022 is almost here! This year’s survey will take place from Monday, April
Posted March 8, 2022; last updated March 22, 2022 Recommendations from Homes for All Massachusetts, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, and
Posted March 3, 2022 Thank you to all of our Legislative Action Day speakers, volunteers, and participants! We are so grateful for your participation and
Posted February 19, 2022; updated March 8, 2022 As we get closer to the end of state fiscal year 2022, several key housing, homelessness, and
Posted January 14, 2022 We have more good news to share with you on the Everyone Needs ID bill to expand access to Mass
Posted January 12, 2022; last updated January 13, 2022 We have some good news to share with you on the Everyone Needs ID bill to
Posted October 8, 2021; last updated October 9, 2021 Please join us for two important virtual State House hearings next week: Joint Committee
Click on the links below to access the articles and resources referenced on our Instagram page: @endhomelessnessma, as well as media coverage of the
** Are you looking for Massachusetts Youth Count 2022 materials? If so, click here. *** The 2021 YOUth Count report is now available. Please download
Posted April 1, 2021 Thank you to everyone who participated in the March 30th online briefing on COVID-19 housing and homelessness issues, organized by
* Are you looking for Massachusetts Youth Count 2022 materials? If so, click here. Posted January 22, 2021, last updated May 27th The Coalition is
From email sent on December 7, 2020 Thank you for all of your work over the past week (and past 11 months!) to make sure
From email sent on November 23, 2020 After many months of COVID-19-related delays, the state budget process is another step closer to being finalized. Late
After many months of COVID-19-related delays, the state budget process is moving ahead swiftly. Thank you to everyone who sent an email and/or called their Senator today and over the weekend. If you haven’t had a chance yet, we still need your help to further strengthen the final Senate version of the FY21 state budget.
As we reported in our previous message, the Senate Committee on Ways and Means released their $46 billion budget proposal for the current fiscal year on Thursday. The Senate Ways and Means (SWM) budget included important proposed investments in housing, homelessness, and benefits programs. We are grateful to Senate President Spilka, Senator Rodrigues, and Senate leadership for prioritizing these issues.
We are honored to work with several Senators to draft and support key amendments to the Senate budget to make sure the Commonwealth is doing even more to prevent and end homelessness and housing instability this fiscal year, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the Senate budget debate beginning tomorrow, now is the time to build up momentum for these amendments. Please ask your State Senator to cosponsor and actively support the key amendments listed below, and thank them if they already have signed on.
** Find out who your State Senator is and what their contact information is by going to www.wheredoivotema.com or calling the State House switchboard on weekdays at 617-722-2000. After sending your email or making your call, please let us know by responding to this message or emailing us via kelly@mahomeless.org.
For a closer look at how the SWM recommendations compare to our key homelessness, housing, and benefits line item requests, and how the House amendments fared, please see our budget chart.
Thank you again for your advocacy and responsiveness!
Ask Your Senator to Support These Key Housing, Homelessness, and Benefits Amendments
Please ask your State Senator to cosponsor and actively support these amendments:
• HomeBASE Amendment #405, on extending HomeBASE benefits for families timing out of the program facing a return to homelessness and improving data collection, sponsored by Senator Chang-Díaz
• Emergency Assistance Amendment #283, on improving data collection, equity, and access for the Emergency Assistance family shelter program, sponsored by Senator Chang-Díaz
• EAEDC Amendment #279, on increasing the Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children program asset limit for elders and people with disabilities from $250 to
$2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for households of two or more, sponsored by Senator Chang-Díaz
• Mass ID Amendment #149, on increasing access to Mass IDs for people experiencing homelessness by eliminating the $25 fee and decreasing the verification burden,
sponsored by Senator Rausch
• Eviction prevention Amendment #388, on promoting housing stability during the COVID-19 emergency and recovery, sponsored by Senator Jehlen
• RAFT Amendment #394, on improving and streamlining the Residential Assistance for Families
in Transition program, a cornerstone of the state’s response to the
eviction crisis, sponsored by Senator Crighton
• MRVP Amendment #398, on improving the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program by increasing the number of housing vouchers issues and ensuring that the Department of
Housing and Community Development uses more of the funding allocated for
the program, sponsored by Senator Crighton
• MRVP Amendment #393, on improving affordability and sustainability for MRVP voucher holders by lowering the tenant portion of rent to no more than 30% of income,
instead of 30-40% of income, filed by Senator Eldridge
• Progressive Revenue Amendment #82, on raising revenue in a progressive way to meet the unprecedented needs in the Commonwealth during the pandemic and recovery, sponsored by Senator Comerford
Please ask your Senator to sign on as soon as possible, and actively express their support for these amendments with Senate Leadership and in caucuses and debates.
We also have been adding amendment details to our budget chart, including outcomes for House amendments.
For more details or questions, please email Kelly. Thank you again for your consideration and support!
In Case You Missed It: Senate Ways and Means Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Highlights
Here are just a few of the highlights of what the Senate Ways and Means budget would do:
• Provide $8 million for housing and services for unaccompanied youth and young adults experiencing homelessness, matching our request
• Provide $54.7 million for the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program, including $50 million in direct appropriations and $4.7 million from the Housing Preservation and Stabilization Trust Fund, in line with our request; to be combined with additional funds allocated by the Governor through the Eviction Diversion Initiative
• Include language that temporarily allows families to maximize needed resources
from the RAFT and HomeBASE programs during the COVID-19 state of
emergency, a step toward our request
• Provide $135 million for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP), including $125.5 million in direct appropriations and $9.5 million in unspent funds from FY20, matching our appropriations request
• Provide $12.5 million for the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP), above our request of $12 million
• Increase funding for shelters and services for unaccompanied adults and families with children, in line with our requests
• Require courts to provide continuances in eviction cases during the pandemic for households impacted financially by COVID-19 that have applied for emergency rental assistance
As SWM highlighted in their budget narrative, “Affordable housing, which has been exacerbated by COVID-19 in Massachusetts, is another key building block of our recovery. Access to housing is, for many, the same as access to economic security and stability, while also being intrinsically linked to public health. The Committee’s budget maintains the Senate’s commitment to increasing access to quality, affordable housing, investing over $540M in housing and homelessness services and supports to maintain stability and keep people in their homes during this time of crisis.”
In an unprecedented week in an unprecedented year, we are grateful for all you do to promote housing and economic stability during and beyond the
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we know that it is more dangerous than ever for families, individuals, and youth to be experiencing homelessness. That is
Since the start of the pandemic, the Coalition has been working with a broad range of stakeholders to ensure that families, individuals, and youth experiencing
Last updated July 31, 2020 Good news! Earlier today, Governor Baker signed into law most of the COVID-19 supplemental budget, House Bill 4808. All of the
Posted July 21, 2020 Thank you to everyone who joined the Coalition, Representative Jim O’Day, Representative Kay Khan, Representative Kevin Honan, families experiencing homelessness, advocates,
Background: Please ask Governor Charlie Baker to take action now for children and parents experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Families in the Commonwealth’s Emergency
Please join with the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless and the National Low Income Housing Coalition in letting your members of Congress (U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators)
Last updated June 15, 2020**Please sign and share our one-minute online RAFT action here.** The Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT, budget line item
Updated May 12, 2020 As Massachusetts responds to the novel coronavirus and the resulting respiratory disease known as COVID-19, the Coalition is sharing key resources
Our hearts are filled with gratitude for all of your support for last week’s Legislative Action Day at the State House! We had more than 200 people with
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