Please Thank Your State Representative, State Senator, and Governor Healey

Please join us in thanking your State Representative, State Senator, and the Governor for finalizing the supplemental budget and for the language to ensure that the state provides overflow shelter spaces to children and families deemed eligible for Emergency Assistance but who are put on a waiting list. Keep reading below for more background information.

• Sample script to legislators: “Hello, my name is [your name] and I live in [your city/town]. I am calling to thank (Senator _____/Representative _____) for their work to pass the supplemental budget, which will provide needed funding to better serve families and individuals experiencing homelessness and key language to ensure that the state provides overflow shelter spaces to children and families deemed eligible for Emergency Assistance (EA) but who are put on a waiting list. In the weeks and months ahead, please do all you can to ensure that the Commonwealth upholds the right to shelter and provides adequate and appropriate shelter, resources, and rehousing assistance to all families approved for EA shelter.”

• Sample script to the Governor: “Hello, my name is [your name] and I live in [your city/town]. I am calling to thank Governor Healey for initiating the supplemental budget request and signing the compromise version into law on Monday. This budget will provide needed funding to better serve families and individuals experiencing homelessness and language to ensure that children and families deemed eligible for Emergency Assistance but who are put on a waiting list will at least have access to overflow shelter spaces. In the weeks and months ahead, I hope that the Governor will do all she can to ensure that the Commonwealth upholds the right to shelter and provides adequate and appropriate shelter, resources, and rehousing assistance to all families approved for EA shelter.”

• How to contact lawmakers:
• State legislators: Unsure who your State Representative and State Senator are? Find them by entering your address or the address where you are staying here: www.wheredoivotema.com or by calling the State House switchboard at 617-722-2000.
• Governor Healey: Call the Governor's office at 617-725-4005 or 888-870-7770 or complete this online form to send an email.

• Next steps: After reaching out, let us know you took action and share any feedback by emailing Kelly.



• Learn more here: www.tinyurl.com/right-to-shelter

Background

Why were the supplemental funding and language urgently needed?

On November 10th, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (HLC) implemented a waiting list for the Emergency Assistance (EA) family shelter program, due to limited funding, shelter sites, and staff capacity. For the first time in the 40-year history of the state's right to shelter for eligible children and families, the Healey Administration has capped the number of shelter spaces that will be available to families. With that, many families who are approved for shelter are being put on a waiting list until there are openings in EA program and related temporary shelter sites. While the state created a temporary overnight overflow site in the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Building in Boston late last month, more sites need to be added to ensure that every family on the waiting list has a safe place to sleep and to be during the day. As of late last week, state officials indicated that there were just over 100 families currently on the waiting list.

Read more about the waiting list process here:

• Information from HLC to families seeking shelter on the new waiting list process: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/learn-how-the-waitlist-for-ea-emergency-family-shelter-works
• Additional information from HLC to families seeking shelter on how to apply for EA: https://www.mass.gov/how-to/apply-for-ea-emergency-family-shelter
• General guidance from HLC on the waiting list and prioritization procedures: https://www.mass.gov/doc/ea-guidance-on-waitlist-and-prioritization-procedures/download

How will the supplemental budget help?

We are grateful that the supplemental budget will provide needed funds to continue to support 7,500 shelter spaces for families (with the funding estimated to last at least until the spring); additional funds to schools that are serving children experiencing homelessness; additional resources to support both newly arrived immigrant families and longer-term Massachusetts residents who are experiencing homelessness; and language that requires the Administration to establish one or more overflow shelter sites for families placed on the waiting list.

For four decades, Massachusetts has honored the right to shelter, a cornerstone in the Commonwealth's commitment to dignity, safety, and human rights. The state-funded overflow spaces will be critical to keeping children and families safe while the state scales up homelessness prevention, housing resources, and support services for all families experiencing homelessness.

Please thank your State Legislators and the Governor for passing the supplemental budget and ask them to do all they can to make sure that the Commonwealth provides adequate and appropriate overflow shelter sites to accommodate all families placed on the EA waiting list. (See details above.)