(Image by Gerd Altmann via Pixabay)

THE HOUSING CRISIS in Massachusetts is a moral travesty affecting us at every level, and its contrast to the wealth invested in gleaming office space could not be starker.

At the front lines are homeless children and their families. We’ve seen the heartbreaking images – families with young children forced to sleep on Logan Airport’s floors because there is no space in the region’s emergency shelter system. And we’ve also read the headlines about empty offices in commercial real estate buildings around Boston, indeed across Massachusetts. There are literally millions of square feet of vacant space that no one is using. And there are thousands of people facing hardship, families in need of a place to sleep and services to help them.

The Unitarian Universalist Association owns one of the many facilities in Boston that currently has some empty space available for this important public use.  More importantly, as a religious denomination and spiritual movement that affirms the inherent worthiness and dignity of every person, embraces interconnectedness, and strives for justice, equity and compassion in human relations as part of our principles and values, we also believe we have the moral obligation to support vulnerable families, including families migrating to seek asylum.

When we heard the state needed more space for emergency overflow capacity, the Unitarian Universalist Association volunteered a vacant portion of our facility to the state for use, rent-free, as a temporary overnight shelter for families.

Over the past few months, we’ve built partnerships with the city and the state, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, the YMCA of Greater Boston, and the Black Refugee and Immigrant Community Coalition to open short-term shelter space. It is an uncommon way to use our commercial real estate space, to say the least. And we sincerely hope we aren’t the only ones who do so.

For us, this was a clear moral decision. Unitarian Universalists have deep roots in New England, especially in downtown Boston.  We have been a part of the fabric of Boston’s community since the late 18th century, with the Unitarian Universality Association and its predecessors headquartered here since at least the 1880s. UUs also have a long history of supporting the rights of asylum-seekers, immigrant communities, and migrant families, extending back to close to our founding as a merged faith.

In 1963, our general assembly – the democratic body that governs the direction our movement takes – officially supported immigration reform legislation that ended racist quota laws passed in 1920. In recent years, UU congregations across the country have provided sanctuary to immigrants facing violence in their home countries and targeting by federal officials here.  And in 2019, the general assembly advocated for the protection of rights for immigrants and asylum-seekers.

It’s especially important for us to offer both moral witness and prophetic action at a time where we see political forces demonizing immigrant communities and people living in poverty. While we have been very pleased by the support the guests living in the temporary overnight shelter have received from the community, they – and we – have been subjected to a reactionary kind of fear-mongering that we must reject. We denounce those who have used dehumanizing language towards families staying in the shelter system. We do this because it is a part of our spiritual practice – and because it is the right thing to do. 

Furthermore, we recognize all communities should be doing their part to address this crisis. Too often, wealthy, predominantly White neighborhoods avoid bearing their share of the load of a social catastrophe. We hope to set an example for well-resourced neighborhoods like the Seaport to provide space, services, and a generosity of spirit. Thankfully, Fort Point residents and people across the Commonwealth have responded positively, pledging to help our guests with the basic necessities they need – and more. But more can be done in all communities across Massachusetts.

All children deserve a safe place to sleep. And in the face of oppression, injustice, and suffering, the values fundamental to our religious practice as Unitarian Universalists call us to take action. With all the public and private resources invested in office space and commercial development in the past generation, yet high vacancy rates forecasted for the foreseeable future, surely there can be more creative uses for spaces like ours to meet this moment. We know the spirit of community and connectedness remains strong in Boston – and we hope others with resources and opportunities take up this challenge as well.

Carey McDonald is the executive vice president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, which is headquartered in Boston.