BOSTON – United Way of Massachusetts Bay today announced that it is awarding a SafetyNet Shelter Grant to a community-driven partnership in North Central Massachusetts to provide shelter to extremely low-income families with children, and pregnant people who have an urgent and immediate need. With the funding, the collaborative effort will open two SafetyNet Shelter Sites to provide overnight shelter to up to 23 families in the region in partnership with the Spanish American Center and Opportunities for Hope. The temporary, overnight shelter will be available to local families as well as families from other regions of the Commonwealth including new arrivals.
United Way of North Central Massachusetts, which currently leads the North County Homeless Network, will serve as the funding administrator and will leverage its agency partnership network to provide a comprehensive continuum of services to support those served through this project. It will also provide up to $30,000 for basic needs, including food and clothing for families in need. The North County Homeless Network is a collaborative group of local stakeholders who meet monthly to mutually identify trends in the housing and homelessness environment, share information and resources on programs and services, and respond to unanticipated events and issues that may contribute to or exacerbate homelessness and housing insecurity in our region.
Opportunities for Hope (OFH) will provide a total of 23 bedrooms across two sites, (with a total capacity of at least 69 beds) as well as facilities management/maintenance. The Spanish American Center will provide multilingual, culturally competent resource coordination and connections to local supports.
“As crises levels of family homelessness in North Central Massachusetts and across the Commonwealth continue to rise, we appreciate the opportunity to partner with United Way of Mass Bay and the Healey-Driscoll administration to facilitate much needed emergency shelter options and supportive services for those in need,” said Kory Eng, President and CEO at United Way of North Central Massachusetts.
This is the second SafetyNet Shelter Grant awarded by United Way of Massachusetts Bay from a $5M program announced last month by the Healey-Driscoll Administration. The first grant, announced on November 21, was awarded to Catholic Charities Boston to support two overflow sites that can house up to 27 families, or 81 people. The funds are being used by Catholic Charities Boston to provide the necessary resources to support temporary overnight shelter including but not limited to bedding, meals, staffing and security.
“As the Commonwealth continues to address the emergency shelter crisis on multiple fronts, it is heartening to see new partnerships coming together to help ensure eligible families have a safe place to stay,” said Bob Giannino, President and CEO at United Way of Massachusetts Bay. “We are grateful to the United Way of North Central Massachusetts, Opportunities for Hope and the Spanish American Center for thinking creatively about the community assets they can leverage to provide increased capacity, services and resources in the region.”
United Way of Massachusetts Bay released the application for the SafetyNet Shelter Program on November 13th. “Since then, our team has engaged in site visits and planning conversations with more than a dozen partners from all regions of the state, and have been actively receiving proposals from churches, community centers, service providers, and local coalitions who are interested in establishing sites or augmenting their current capacity. We expect to see additional sites resulting from these conversations, as well as new collaborations that will enhance the existing system. We are proud to be in the position of catalyzing the goodwill and expertise of community leaders who want to offer warm meals and safe shelter to both families seeking asylum and long-time residents without a safe place to call home.” said Sarah Bartley, Vice President, Safe & Stable Housing at United Way of Massachusetts Bay.
The application for the SafetyNet Shelter grant program that is administered by the United Way is available here. The SafetyNet Shelter program will support prospective community gathering spaces with restrooms and heat, such as places of worship, community centers, and school buildings, to provide safe space for families to find short-term, congregate shelter, meals and other basic necessities, and linkages to other supportive community resources such as housing programs, health services, and mental health supports. Non-congregate models will also be considered.
The flexible program will remain in place through the winter and spring, adapting to conditions, needs, and opportunities that arise. The program aims to flexibly build the capacity of diverse community-based organizations and collaboratives to support families without safe and stable housing, with a particular interest in those with the cultural and linguistic competence and community connections that most contribute to the long-term well-being and community integration of families.
The state will continue to connect families with resources and is prioritizing exits from the system to allow new families to enter.
Nonprofit organizations are invited to apply on their own or in partnership with other volunteer groups, faith-based groups, or organizations in their community. Applicants can apply to expand an existing site or establish a new site. In selecting grantees, UWMB will prioritize CBOs with the following characteristics:
- Experience in serving low-income, non-English or limited English speaking and historically underserved communities, families and pregnant individuals
- Experience in serving low-income, non-English or limited English speaking and historically underserved communities, families and pregnant individuals
- Experience in serving populations experiencing homelessness
- Experience in serving populations experiencing homelessness
- Ability to conduct outreach to identify individuals and households that qualify for assistance
- Ability to conduct outreach to identify individuals and households that qualify for assistance
- Organizations or collaboratives that are well supported and already include or are seeking to build connections to relevant resources or services
- Organizations or collaboratives that are well supported and already include or are seeking to build connections to relevant resources or services
- Sites that offer reliable and adequate amenities including showers, meals, laundry, and other necessities
- Sites that offer reliable and adequate amenities including showers, meals, laundry, and other necessities
Applications will be considered for funding on a rolling basis. For more information on the application process, contact Josh Cuddy, Director of Interagency Coordination at Joshua.Cuddy@mass.gov and Sarah Bartley, UWMB Vice President Safe & Stable Housing at sbartley@supportunitedway.org.
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About United Way of Massachusetts Bay
United Way of Massachusetts Bay exists to build more equitable communities, together. With over 85 years of local impact in eastern Massachusetts, we work with and for our communities to build economic prosperity and enable everyone–across races and ethnicities–to share in the knowledge, wealth and resources available. We believe that the key to unlocking opportunity is uniting people, and we bring together individuals, community leaders, corporate partners, legislators and organizations to build a powerful engine of change. Visit www.unitedwaymassbay.org for more information.
Media Contact:
Brigid Boyd, Chief of Public Affairs, United Way of Massachusetts Bay , bboyd@supportunitedway.org , 339.236.1161