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State Homeless Programs to Receive $18 Million Boost
October 8, 2009
BOSTON – Governor Deval Patrick announced that the state will steer $17.9 million in federal recovery funds to community-based nonprofits throughout the Commonwealth to address the needs of families and individuals who are homeless or at imminent risk of becoming so. See full list of awards. “These funds come at a critical time for Massachusetts and complement our ongoing emergency assistance reform efforts by focusing on permanent housing as the long term solution to end homelessness,” said Governor Deval Patrick. “By targeting resources this way, we are not only helping out individuals and families in need, but we are stabilizing neighborhoods, relieving the strain on our shelter system and alleviating escalating costs.”
“The federal government is a valuable partner in complementing our comprehensive reform actions to end homelessness in Massachusetts,” said Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray. “These funds will help us to reaffirm our belief that we must provide genuine alternatives to shelter up front and recognize that landlords, both public and private, are key partners in re-housing efforts.”
“Nearly 30,000 people in Massachusetts will go to sleep tonight in a shelter or without a roof over their heads,” said Senator John Kerry. “This investment will help keep families off the streets, relieve strain on our shelters, move homeless people into safe housing and help people in trouble find the safety and dignity everyone should be able to count on.”
"Helping homeless individuals and families get off the street and find safe housing is something we should be doing at all times, but this effort takes on additional urgency during difficult economic periods where increasing numbers of people are at risk," said Congresswoman Niki Tsongas. "The Patrick Administration is making good use of these Recovery Act funds by not only providing a lifeline to the homeless, but also working with community partners to help those in need find more permanent and stable places to live."
The $17.9 million award is part of $1.2 billion issued nationwide by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through its Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program which provides short- and medium-term rental assistance and services to either prevent homelessness or to help those in shelters to be quickly re-housed. The state’s award comes on top of $26.1 million recently disbursed directly from the HUD program to 20 entitlement cities in Massachusetts and will be used to support a network of statewide community organizations that have embraced the administration’s emergency shelter system reform measures as recommended by the state Commission to End Homelessness and the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness.
“The Patrick-Murray Administration has created what we call a comprehensive new architecture for partnering community resources with the state’s shelter intake and housing systems,” said the state’s Undersecretary for Housing and Community Development, Tina Brooks. “These funds will help us to continue our ongoing mission to provide resources and services to help individuals and families avoid shelter in the first place and find appropriate housing quickly for those who are without a permanent place to call home.”
According to a press release by the state's Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, investments in housing and economic development are "critical components of Governor Patrick’s Massachusetts Recovery Plan, which combines state, federal and, where possible, private efforts to provide immediate and long-term relief and position the Commonwealth for recovery in the following ways:
- Deliver immediate relief by investing in the road, bridge and rail projects that put people to work today and providing safety net services that sustain people who are especially vulnerable during an economic crisis;
- Build a better tomorrow through education and infrastructure investments that strengthen our economic competitiveness, prepare workers for the jobs of the future, and support clean energy, broadband, and technology projects that cut costs while growing the economy; and
- Reform state government by eliminating the pension and ethics loopholes that discredit the work of government and revitalize the transportation networks that have suffered from decades of neglect and inaction."
For more information, please visit www.mass.gov/recovery.
Organization Region Served Award Amount Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership Boston/Revere/Malden $4,920,142
City of Worcester Worcester $2,586,008
NE Farm Workers Council Springfield $754,941
Brockton Area Multi Service, Inc Brockton $383,320
No. Shore Community Action Programs Salem $390,239
Community Team Work Inc. Lowell/Lawrence $366,671
Comm. Action Committee of Cape Cod & Islands Cape/Islands $201,819
South Middlesex Opportunity Council Framingham $365,819
Victory Boston $498,925
HAP, Inc. Springfield $1,923,040
Father Bill's Brockton $1,416,850
Traveler's Aid Boston $394,375
Mass. Housing & Shelter Alliance Statewide $1,926,821
Catholic Charities-Boston Boston $186,428
Boston Public Health Commission Boston $139,529
Duffy Health Services Cape/Islands $621,014
Community Care Services Taunton $342,183
Catholic Charities-W MA Springfield $220,125
Springfield Housing Authority Springfield $153,500
Worcester Housing Authority Worcester $153,500
Totals $17,945,250
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