Family homelessness is preventable, and addressing it requires more than any one organization or system can do alone. 

United Way of Massachusetts Bay was invited last week to testify before the Boston City Council on family homelessness, drawing on our experience bringing government, philanthropy, businesses, community-based organizations and people with lived experience together to advance solutions that keep families housed and help communities thrive. 

In her testimony, Christi Staples, United Way’s Vice President of Scaling Safe and Stable Housing, outlined four opportunities for Boston to strengthen its response: investing in prevention and diversion, coordinating support when families experience homelessness, expanding the pipeline of permanent housing, and connecting families to the broader supports they need to achieve stability. 

Christi also highlighted evidence from United Way’s research partnership with Boston College School of Social Work, Boston Public Schools and FamilyAid showing the connection between housing stability, student attendance and family well-being, and the opportunity to build on approaches that are already demonstrating results. 

Read Christi’s full testimony below: 

"Good morning, Chair Mejia and members of the Council. Thank you for bringing us together to address family homelessness and the important role that schools, community-based organizations, research, philanthropy and you all, as elected officials, can play. My name is Christi Staples, and I'm the Vice President of Scaling Safe and Stable Housing at United Way of Massachusetts Bay. At United Way, we partner with organizations locally in Boston, statewide, and nationally to scale safe and stable housing for families.  

Every child in Boston deserves a safe, stable place to sleep, learn, grow, and thrive. Yet too many families are facing housing instability, entering shelter, or trying to navigate fragmented systems during the most stressful moments of their lives. Family homelessness is not inevitable. It is a solvable problem when the city, state, providers, and community partners align to keep families housed and helping children and parents avoid further trauma. 

As you will hear from Tom Byrne and Luciano Ramos, research on BPS’ Early Homelessness and Prevention program (EHIP), shows that families participating in an intentional collaboration between schools and housing providers experienced improvements in housing stability, reduced chronic absenteeism and improved parent and child wellbeing  This work is grounded in input from families with lived experience, providers, and community partners: families do better across multiple domains when the intervention is streamlined, equitable, and centered on people . 

I urge the Council to focus on four connected priorities.  

First, prevention and diversion: According to a recent report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 35% of households surveyed in Greater Boston said they do not have enough cash on hand to pay for a $400 emergency expense. That means many families are one unexpected expense away from missing a rent payment.  Families should be able to access flexible resources, mediation, legal support, rental assistance, and problem-solving before a financial crisis becomes homelessness.  

Second, coordinated crisis response: when families do need shelter, we see improved child and family outcomes when the system is coordinated, transparent, trauma-informed, and easy to navigate.  

 Third, expand the pipeline of permanent housing: in order for families to remain stably housed or to exit a state of homelessness once and for all, Boston must increase deeply affordable and supportive housing. 

Fourth, strengthen services and supports: while housing is essential for family stability, housing alone is not sufficient for families to thrive. The continuum of support available to families must include access to childcare, education, health care, behavioral health supports, employment pathways, and culturally responsive services that wrap around the whole family. 

We know the interventions that work. We know the strategies that lead to better outcomes for individuals, children, and families. We just need to scale and sustain them to reach more people. 

Family homelessness in Boston should be rare, brief, and one-time—and every family should be met with dignity, urgency, and a clear path home. Thank you for your time and for your leadership in this urgent work."