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November 17, 2023


Dear Robyn,


Thank you to everyone who reached out to State Representatives and Senators this week in support of the $250 million supplemental budget request and language on family homelessness issues. Unfortunately, the House and Senate were unable to reconcile the differences between their versions of the budget before formal sessions ended for the calendar year very early yesterday morning. Now, the Legislature has shifted into seven weeks of informal sessions (during which it only takes one dissenting vote to derail legislation) and a conference committee has been named to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget.


The House and Senate have announced that the first informal sessions will take place this Monday, so we are working with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute to quickly mobilize our members and allies to join us in front of the State House that day for a candlelight vigil. Your presence is vital to underscore how critical state-funded overflow shelter spaces are for children and families. Since last Friday, dozens of families have been deemed eligible for shelter and then placed on a waiting list, with many families heading to stay in places not meant for human habitation or to very temporary accommodations arranged by community-based organizations.

 

Who: Families, advocates, providers, community leaders, faith community members, and more

 

What: Vigil to show support for families and children experiencing homelessness and to call on state leaders to establish overflow shelter sites for families on the waiting list for longer-term shelter placements

 

When: Monday, November 20th, 4–5 p.m.

 

Where: In front of the Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02133, across from the Boston Common

 

Please keep reading below for more details on the vigil and related call-in day and share this invitation with others: https://tinyurl.com/11-20-vigil


We hope to see you on Monday! Thank you as always for your partnership and advocacy.


With hope and gratitude,

Kelly and Julia


Kelly Turley

She/her/hers

Associate Director

kelly@mahomeless.org


Julia Garvey

She/her/hers

Community Organizer/Legislative Advocate

julia.garvey@mahomeless.org


P.S. Stay up to date with the Coalition’s advocacy initiatives by following us on social media: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. (Links also included at the top of this message.)

Can't Make It to the State House on Monday? Please Call Your State Representatives and Senators


Please join us in calling your State Representative and Senator on Monday to ask them to do all they can to ensure that the supplemental budget is finalized quickly and that it includes language to ensure that the state provides overflow shelter spaces to all children and families deemed eligible for Emergency Assistance but who are put on a waiting list.


  • Sample script: “Hello, my name is [your name] and I live in [your city/town]. Please do all you can to make sure that the supplemental budget is passed as swiftly as possible and that it includes language to ensure that the state provides overflow shelter spaces to all children and families deemed eligible for Emergency Assistance but who are put on a waiting list. I am very worried about the children and families who are being put on the waiting list who have no safe place to sleep. Thank you!”


  • How to contact your 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.




Background


Why are supplemental funding and language urgently needed?


Starting 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.


Read more about the waiting list process here:



How could the supplemental budget help?


We are grateful that both the House and Senate versions of the pending supplemental budget would 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; and additional resources to support both newly arrived immigrant families and longer-term Massachusetts residents who are experiencing homelessness.*


The House version of the supplemental budget also would require the Administration to establish one or more overflow shelter sites for families placed on the waiting list. Such overflow sites would ensure that children and families are not left out in the cold while they are waiting for their names to come to the top of the waiting list. The House budget also includes language that would prohibit the Administration from capping shelter access at 7,500 families if the overflow sites are not operational within 30 days of the supplemental budget being enacted. The Senate version of the budget would provide more flexibility to the Administration and not require overflow sites to be established. The final Senate version also would establish a working group to look at the future of the state's family shelter program.


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 described in the House budget 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.


(See the Coalition's letter to the editor in the Boston Globe and the recent recommendations from the Moving Beyond the Emergency Working Group and allied organizations, convened by the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, and Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association.)