The state and federal funding landscape continues to shift while homelessness in Western Massachusetts has reached unprecedented levels in the aftermath of the pandemic. Holyoke had the highest unsheltered count in all of Hampden County this year, according to preliminary numbers.
Emergency shelter
Posted inGovernment
Emergency shelter commission backs recommendations for $1B program
A special commission tasked with offering solutions to the state’s overwhelmed emergency housing assistance program voted on Tuesday to approve a report with a series of recommendations, but no clear roadmap.
Posted inState Government
Former prison in Norfolk to reopen as overflow shelter
A razor fence around the facility will be removed, according to a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
Posted inBy The Numbers
Mass. residents say ‘immigration/migrants’ top issue facing state
Sixty-seven percent of those polled said the migrant situation was either a crisis (28 percent) or a major problem (39 percent).
Posted inImmigration
Healey makes another tweak to the emergency shelter law
Gov. Maura Healey made a new change in the program, imposing one-month restrictions on families staying in overflow housing shelters while they wait for shelter spots to open up.
Posted inImmigration
Senate bill also backs cap on stays in emergency shelter system
Like the bill that cleared the House earlier this month, the Senate bill could push some people out of the system after nine months, which would mark a shift in a state that by law guarantees access to shelter for eligible families and pregnant women.
Posted inImmigration
Healey seeks $893m for shelter system
“The situation is evolving and we continue to evolve with it,” said Mathew Gorzkowicz, the governor’s top budget official.
Posted inImmigration
Healey on board with reforms at southern border
AS SENATE NEGOTIATORS in Washington edge closer to a deal on immigration, Gov. Maura Healey is signaling a willingness to support steps that restrict access to migrants at the border. […]
Posted inState Government
Healey sets in motion some mild belt-tightening
If the Legislature declines to go along with governor’s emergency shelter funding plan or goes in a different direction, the budget for this year could fall quickly out of balance again.
Posted inHousing
Cost of emergency shelter system nearly tripling this year
The report said the cost of the program has nearly tripled, growing from roughly $325 million at the start of this fiscal year to $932 million as Massachusetts has tried to find shelter for a growing wave of migrants from other countries.