From Shelters to Homes: Massachusetts Launches $30,000 Aid Program for Migrant Families
- Author: Aubrey Sipes
- Posted: 2024-02-15
The state of Massachusetts has launched a new program, HomeBASE, which provides up to $30,000 over two years to find stable housing for eligible homeless families already in emergency shelters.
The program has long served families with children or pregnant women living in the emergency shelter system, which provides temporary housing under the state's right-to-shelter law.
According to state officials, about half of the shelter system in Massachusetts houses Massachusetts residents, while migrants from other countries also qualify for the program.
In fact, resettlement agencies are working with Gov. Maura Healey's administration to set up a pilot program that would support up to 400 migrants in shelter with one year of case management and help finding long-term housing, including through HomeBASE.
HomeBASE provides support for a homeless family's first and last month's rent, security deposit, and broker's fee for a new apartment. Monthly payments can assist with rent up to two years, with the possibility of a third year of help.
The program also provides furniture, moving expenses, and utilities based on a family's needs. Moreover, it supports overdue rent or utility payments.
The program pays a landlord or vendor, like a moving company or utility company, directly instead of handing cash to the family. To be eligible for the program, a family must either be living in or meet the documentation requirements for the state-run emergency shelter system.
Families in non-emergency domestic violence shelters and residential use treatment programs may also qualify for HomeBASE.
Last year, Healey capped the number of families in the emergency shelter system at 7,500 and instituted a waitlist for those who apply for temporary housing while shelters are at capacity.
As of Thursday, there were 714 families on the waitlist, according to the state's housing department.
Families on the waitlist can access overflow shelter sites at the state-owned Melnea Cass Recreation Center in addition to sites in Quincy and Cambridge. Other sites, including empty office space in the Seaport, are under consideration.
