A Message From Our Executive Director |
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Season’s Greetings!
History will remember 2020 as one of the most tumultuous years in American history. The pandemic, political divisiveness, and increased calls for racial equality from across the political spectrum have made this year like none other.
Since the start of the pandemic in March, the team at Metro Housing has remained committed to helping those in need. We know that even during a pandemic homelessness and housing instability do not take a break. Getting financial assistance to those in need remains our highest priority. Since July 1 Metro Housing has distributed $5.1 million in RAFT funding to 1,800 households. This is as many households assisted and funds distributed as in all of FY20.
In addition to providing much needed rental assistance, Metro Housing’s staff has continued to provide services to the thousands of families and individuals who have housing vouchers through Section 8 and MRVP, receive guidance from our Fair Housing and Civil Rights Project, and get connected to services through our multitude of colocations. Metro Housing also deepened its relationships with health care partners such as Boston Medical Center, Children’s Hospital, Winchester Hospital, Mass General Brigham and Community Care Cooperative to support the region’s most vulnerable populations.
We are hopeful, like all of you, that with the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine to Massachusetts, 2021 will provide our communities with relief from the pandemic and that life will soon return to what we all know as normal.
Though this will be a very different holiday season, all of us at Metro Housing wish you and your loved ones a very safe and happy New Year.
Chris Norris
Executive Director
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Help Us Keep Families Out of the Cold! |
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The pandemic has impacted us all, but those struggling to remain in their homes and feed their families have been hit the hardest.
Over the last nine months, Metro Housing has assisted thousands of families avoid homelessness thanks to you and your support.
But there are still so many more who need our help.
Please consider supporting Metro Housing today!
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Helping Families in Need
During the Holidays
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As the weather grows cold and winter settles in, the needs for our families grows drastically. With the help of generous donors, Metro Housing has been able to provide the following:
- More than $10,000 in gift cards for families to purchase holiday meals.
- More than 50 winter coats thanks to an anonymous corporate donor.
- More than 200 items from a Holiday Drive - including winter coats, gloves, hats, and board games - to go directly to children of our families.
We wish to thank the following sponsors that helped make our 2020 holiday giving program so successful:
Eastern Bank, JP Morgan Chase,
Welsh Consulting, Boston Private,
Peabody Properties, and Maloney Properties.
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Metro Housing Receives $1M
from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
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Metro Housing will receive $1 million over three years from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) to explore the inequality of calculating rent shares for working families with rental vouchers.
The grant was one of 17 given to local organizations by BIDMC in support of impactful initiatives in the areas of housing affordability, jobs and financial security, and behavioral health.
As household income rises, a corresponding reduction in benefits makes salary increases result in static or decreased total household income. For families working to escape poverty, the specter of working harder to generate the same or less income has a discouraging effect on labor market participation. This phenomena is known as cliff effects.
Nearly $700,000 from the grant will be dispensed directly to participants in the form of monthly reimbursements to their housing voucher rent share. Metro Housing will survey working voucher families to see how they spend money that they receive.
"Working families are impacted disproportionally to those that subsist off benefits alone," says Susan Nohl, Deputy Director of Metro Housing. "This cruel cycle traps low-income residents on a plateau of subsistence, actively penalizing them for attempting to thrive. Our hope is that the data returned by this project will provide a solid foundation to advocate for meaningful change with policy-makers across all levels."
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Champions of Housing Raises $353,000 |
Champions of Housing honors leaders in our community who share our passion and commitment to ensuring that everyone in Greater Boston has a place to call home. The event was held virtually on Wednesday, November 4 and raised $353,000.
Metro Housing extends a special thank you to NEI General Contracting and it's president, Joe Rettman, for being our Main Stage sponsor.
For a complete of this year's sponsors, please click HERE. |
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Honorees were (L-R) Edward E. Zuker of Chestnut Hill Realty, Boston Medical Center (accepted by Dr. Megan Sandel), Trevor Samios of WinnCompanies, and Katherine Martinez of Lena Park Community Development Corporation.
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Two Local Students Launch
"Harvest Hike" to Benefit Metro Housing
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Ezra Lee and Amy McKeigue are eighth grade students at the Park School in Brookline. Since they returned to school in September, they became increasingly aware of the impact the pandemic has had on the families cast into poverty.
They decided to do something that could help and created a walkathon that took place in late November. The pair encouraged people to get out of their houses and go for a walk with family or friends while seeking donations for each mile walked. Known as the 2020 Harvest Hike, Metro Housing was designated as the beneficiary.
"Our plan was to not only give families a reliable activity during the day, but to also generate the warm feeling of helping someone who needs it," said Amy.
Though the Harvest Hike has been completed, Amy and Ezra are continuing to raise money for Metro Housing through other activities. As of December 15, they have raised nearly $2,500. Thank you Amy and Ezra!!
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METRO HOUSING WELCOMES NEW SENIOR STAFF MEMBERS |
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Kristin Ross-Sitcawich - Director of Financial Assistance
Kristin Ross-Sitcawich has joined Metro Housing as the Director of Financial Assistance.
Prior to her arrival at Metro Housing, Kristin served as Director of Homelessness Prevention and Home Ownership Programs at Community Teamwork. Kristin has many years experience working with multiple state housing assistance and affordable housing programs. She has also served on the board of many community organizations, including as Chairwoman of the Lowell Housing Authority.
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Juan Nunez - Director of Human Resources
Juan Nunez is Metro Housing's new Director of Human Resources.
Juan brings more than 20 years of experience in the public and private sector as a diversity practitioner, holding leadership roles at KPMG, Fashion Institute of Technology, and UMass Boston. He has also served as a regional compliance specialist and diversity manager at the State of New York Department of Transportation, as well as the senior manager for employee relations at Deloitte & Touche LLP.
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Anti-Racism Efforts at Metro Housing |
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In follow-up to the organizational statement made earlier this year, Metro Housing is taking a two-pronged approach to fulfill its commitment to anti-racism.
First, Metro Housing has hired the YWCA as our consultant to assist in a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) audit. This is an intensive organizational self-assessment to determine barriers to DEI opportunities. It is a multi-step project to address the systemic racism that our staff and the people we serve face. The first step, staff and participant listening sessions, commence in January.
Second, a staff-led initiative, called Metro Housing United and Standing Together (MUST), has launched with the goal of implementing anti-racism conversation-based events for staff across all departments. There is a planning committee of 20 staff members organizing events such as viewing and discussing a presentation by Richard Rothstein on his book, The Color of Law, a group viewing and conversation of 13th led by an expert in criminal justice policy, and a book club discussion on So You Want To Talk About Race.
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2020 Impact Report:
HELPING A REGION IN NEED
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For the first time ever, Metro Housing has produced an interactive version of our annual Impact Report.
The 2020 Impact Report features animated charts, logos, and audio from some of the families served by Metro Housing during the pandemic. Additionally, a new video about the impact Metro Housing has had on these families is viewable within the report.
We invite you to read the 2020 Impact Report by clicking the image on the left. If you have difficulty viewing the interactive version of the Impact Report, you may also view it in PDF format HERE.
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RAFT in Review for Fiscal Year 2020
$5.1 million helps 1,805 families
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In Metro Housing’s 29-community Greater Boston service area, the $5.1 million RAFT investment helped 1,805 families resolve a housing crisis that may have led to homelessness. With nearly 500 of the families potentially eligible for shelter, keeping them stably housed saved the Commonwealth up to $25.7 million.
To read the RAFT IN REVIEW Report, Click HERE.
Metro Housing also recently produced a special RAFT report on the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this separate report released in October 2020, Metro Housing reported that the number of households that received RAFT increased by 62 percent between March and August 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
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Metro Housing|Boston
Phone: 617.859.0400
Toll-Free: 800.272.0990
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