Initiatives and Programs

The collaborative efforts of the Emergency Shelter Commission, the Department of Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless Planning Committee have secured over $38 million in new resources for homeless services and housing. The resources have helped to create a coordinated continuum of care for homeless services and housing in Boston.

The planning process for the continuum of care is open to homeless providers, advocates, and constituents. At the meeting for the homeless, the community decides on what gaps should be discussed at smaller working meetings. Through these working meetings the community quantifies and prioritizes the gaps to be filled. Over the past four years the following gaps have been prioritized: permanent housing, economic development, children's services, and services and transitional housing for the dually diagnosed. The programs the planning process coordinates serve thousand of individuals and families.

The Mayor provides $150,000 for hunger grants to help anti-hunger efforts. Grants to over 90 neighborhood food pantries have helped families during the summer months. Summer is the time of year that people do not think about donating to hunger organizations. During the summer children are not in school receiving breakfast and lunch and these grants help alleviate the strain on low-income families budgets.

During the summer we also provide grants to the Grow Clinic so that malnourished children can go to summer camp and receive three balanced meals a day. We have also increased the amount of food provided to Boston children by opening meal sites during the summer in every neighborhood. The ESC also provides over 200,000 pounds of food to the Greater Boston Food Bank through the Can Share Food Drive.

The Mayor's recently announced challenge to the State to help homeless families will have a significant impact on the amount of resources available to move families out of shelters and into permanent housing.

The Mayor is deeply concerned about guaranteeing a safety net for homeless families as the cold weather approaches. As you know, we are concerned that more working families are becoming homeless because of the tight rental market and are not eligible for emergency assistance shelter beds if they are making more than $6.00 per hour. It is counterintuitive to require families on welfare to work but not allow them into a shelter bed if they become homeless because they are working. We hope the Governor's Office will make changes to this policy this winter.