Joint Statement and Call to Action for Families Experiencing Homelessness

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 State Action

The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless (MCH), Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI), and the undersigned organizations support the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s efforts to expand resources for shelter, housing, and other resources for families experiencing homelessness in Massachusetts. We affirm the Administration’s commitment to preserving access to the Commonwealth’s Emergency Assistance family shelter system for all eligible families with children. We are also grateful for the broad call to action to support newly arrived immigrant families. We stand ready to share our knowledge and assistance in these efforts in the days and weeks ahead, and we offer key recommendations today.

We believe there are immediate actions available to alleviate the current crisis, uphold human dignity, and invest in long-term housing solutions that expand deeply affordable and permanent supportive housing. With the state’s leadership, together we can and must:

• Help families swiftly move out of Emergency Assistance and other temporary shelter programs into permanent affordable housing

• Strengthen homelessness prevention resources to ensure that more families and individuals can maintain housing stability

• Expand available services for newly arrived immigrant families and improve service coordination for all families experiencing homelessness

The fiscal year 2024 state budget, signed into law on August 9th by Governor Healey, includes new tools and resources that will move us in the right direction. The budget provides record funding to keep Emergency Assistance shelters open, strengthens the HomeBASE diversion and rehousing program, provides additional long-term housing subsidies through the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, includes policy changes to make housing more affordable for residents with low incomes, and reinstates Chapter 257 eviction protections to prevent unnecessary evictions for renters applying for emergency rental assistance. We call on the Administration and Legislature to take the next steps to bring these service, housing, and prevention resources to scale through supplemental appropriations, passing an Affordable Housing Bond Bill with increased investments in deeply affordable housing, and deploying federal resources, such as the remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds.

We also know that money alone is not enough to end the emergency. In addition to mobilizing communities, businesses, organizations, and individuals, we call on the state to take bold, creative, and coordinated action to intensify efforts to help families move out of shelter into housing, strengthen homelessness prevention resources, expand available services to all families experiencing homelessness, and target supports to newly arrived immigrant families. In doing so, we call on the Commonwealth to bring key stakeholders to the table and uplift the experiences and expertise of families and communities most affected by the crisis.

We offer our assistance towards achieving the shared goal of ensuring that every family has a safe, affordable, and permanent place to call home and the safety of shelter while awaiting those housing opportunities. We know we can come together for a strong Commonwealth for all.

Sincerely,

Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless

Kelly Turley

Associate Director

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

Andrea M. Park

Director of Community Driven Advocacy

Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association

Rachel Heller

Chief Executive Officer

Endorsing Organizations as of August 24th (in alphabetical order):

1. Abby’s House

2. Advocacy Network to End Family Homelessness

3. All Saints Episcopal Church, Worcester

4. Arise for Social Justice

5. Belmont-Watertown United Methodist Church

6. Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority

7. Berkshire Housing

8. Berkshire United Way

9. Bourne, Cataumet, & West Falmouth United Methodist Churches

10. Casa Myrna Vazquez, Inc.

11. Catholic Charities Worcester County

12. Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance

13. Central West Justice Center

14. Chicopee Public Schools

15. Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association

16. Community Action Agency of Somerville, Inc.

17. Congregation Beth El of the Sudbury River Valley

18. Craig’s Doors

19. Domus Incorporated

20. El Colibrí

21. Eliot Community Human Service

22. Everett Haitian Community Center (The EHCC)

23. Fair Haven Ministries Inc.

24. Falmouth Jewish Congregation

25. Family and Community Resources, Inc

26. Family Health Center of Worcester

27. Family Promise North Shore Boston

28. FamilyAid

29. First Church in Sandwich, United Church of Christ

30. First Parish, Concord

31. Food Bank of Western Massachusetts

32. Grace City Church

33. Grace Episcopal Church, Great Barrington

34. Grandmothers’ Village Project

35. Greater Boston Legal Services

36. Greenfield Housing Authority

37. Greening Greenfield

38. HarborCOV

39. Housing Families Inc

40. Housing Greenfield

41. Housing Justice for Survivors, Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School

42. I.C. Solutions LLC

43. Immigrant Family Services Institute

44. Independence House Inc.

45. Islamic Society of Western Mass

46. Jane Doe Inc. (JDI), The MA Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence

47. Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center

48. Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action

49. Jewish Family Service of MetroWest

50. Justice Center of Southeast Massachusetts

51. Louis D. Brown Peace Institute

52. LUK, Inc.

53. Massachusetts Alliance of HUD Tenants

54. Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS)

55. Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless

56. Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition

57. Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

58. Massachusetts Public Health Association

59. Metro Housing|Boston

60. Metropolitan Area Planning Council

61. MetroWest Legal Services

62. Montachusett Veterans Outreach Center

63. My Life My Choice

64. NeighborWorks Housing Solutions

65. New Lease for Homeless Families

66. Northeast Justice Center

67. Northern Middlesex Council of Governments

68. One Family

69. Open Sky Community Services

70. Pine Street Inn

71. RCAP Solutions

72. REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, Inc.

73. Regional Housing Network of Massachusetts

74. Rosie’s Place

75. Salasin Project

76. SEIU Local 509

77. Shir Hadash

78. Sisters of Saint Joseph of Boston

79. South Shore Resource and Advocacy Center

80. Spanish American Center, Inc.

81. St. Clare of Assisi Catholic Community

82. St. Mark Congregational Church, UCC

83. Stop Bullying Coalition

84. Temple Anshe Amunim

85. Temple Beth Am, Framingham

86. Temple Beth David

87. Temple Emmanuel of Chelsea

88. Temple Sinai Brookline

89. The Rian Immigrant Center

90. Tifereth Israel Congregation

91. UniteBoston

92. United Way of Massachusetts Bay

93. Valley Community Development

94. Vasquez Mary Kay

95. Veterans Inc.

96. Way Finders

97. Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness

98. Women’s Money Matters

99. Worcester City Councilor At-Large Thu Nguyen

100. Worcester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj

101. Worcester Community Action Council

102. YWCA Central Massachusetts

103. Zen Center North Shore

Last updated 8/24/23

* Click here for a PDF version of the statement, listing the endorsing organizations as of August 23rd.