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AT TIMES the wheels of government move more slowly than we’d like. In the meantime, working families struggle to get by.

With so many big, systemic issues to address, even meaningful incremental progress can often feel like just a finger in the dam. Sometimes, however, those seemingly small wins can offer a blueprint for big, sweeping change. The cross-sector collaboration between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Lawrence Housing Authority is one such example.

Between 2021 to 2022, the Lawrence public school system saw the rate of student homelessness increase by 21.9 percent, a distressing reminder of the toll that economic hardship and social inequities have on our youngest generation. So, when two officials from the Lawrence Public Schools — Nelson Butten, the director of family, student, and community partnerships, and Arlin Santiago, the education stability specialist — sought HUD’s help, it triggered a swift response.

Along with key stakeholders and local partners, HUD convened the first-ever Lawrence Homeless Summit. There we heard from community members and the people on the frontlines of the youth homelessness crisis. They recounted first-hand stories about the growing number of encampments throughout the city, rising rates of disaffected youth, and about the urgent need for behavioral health care and wraparound services.

This, of course, is no surprise to anyone living in Lawrence. The city and all of New England is facing one of the tightest housing markets seen in decades. In Lawrence, affordable housing market conditions have been tight since 2000, with a vacancy rate of 1.5 percent during the fourth quarter of 2022, up from 1.0 percent one year earlier. Put plainly, there is a dearth of resources for those who are most in need.

Efrain Rolon, the executive director of the Lawrence Housing Authority, knows this problem intimately. The Lawrence Housing Authority, one of the Commonwealth’s biggest housing authorities, serves 737 seniors, 1,032 families in their public housing program, and close to 1,000 families through housing choice vouchers, many of them immigrants and first-generation working families.

With the housing authority already strapped for resources and facing a waiting list of over 17,000 people, Rolon committed to dedicate the authority’s stability housing vouchers, or incremental vouchers focused on helping people experiencing unsheltered homelessness that HUD announced in June 2022, to the problem.

Thanks in large part to the efforts of Rolon, Butten, and Santiago, as well as Evelyn Friedman from Greater Lawrence Community Action Council, their organizations have entered into an agreement that will help tackle the youth and family homelessness crisis head-on. The program is still in its infancy, but through this new partnership eight homeless youth and their families will be placed on a path to securing permanent housing.

This partnership is just one example of the power of cross-sector collaboration. We know that government can move quickly and efficiently when it wants to because we’ve seen it happen before. In the midst of a global pandemic, virtually every level of the public sector took action to provide immediate assistance to individuals and small businesses. Local governments, with the support of key stakeholders, private institutions, and non-profit partners, were particularly effective in providing tenant protections, investments in emergency interim housing, and the rent and utility relief needed to prevent families from becoming homeless in the first place.

HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge has challenged us to think out of the box and consider collaboration as an important tool for progress. When government and individuals from different spaces come together to work towards a common goal, they can achieve results that are greater than the sum of their parts. Building coalitions allows us to leverage our collective strengths and resources, share knowledge and expertise, and create solutions that are both effective and sustainable.

As we look to the future, we must continue to prioritize cross-sector collaboration as a key strategy for addressing our most pressing social and economic challenges. By working together, we can create more equitable, just, and prosperous opportunities for all.

Juana B. Matias is the regional administrator for Housing and Urban Development in New England. She previously served as the state representative for Lawrence and chief operating officer of MassINC, the parent company of CommonWealth.