State Leaders Applauded for Prioritizing Solutions to Expand Supportive Housing and Services for Adults, Youth and Families Experiencing Homelessness
BOSTON - United Way of Massachusetts Bay applauds the monumental actions of Governor Maura Healey, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus and the Massachusetts State Legislature with the passage of the Affordable Homes Act, which revolutionizes the way resources are deployed to create the supportive housing opportunities necessary to address the complex needs of those experiencing homelessness.
The bill signed today by Governor Healey authorizes $5.16 billion for housing over the next five years and includes many new policies that will aid collective efforts to build supportive housing, alongside all the other types of housing that Massachusetts needs. Among the provisions for supportive housing in the Affordable Homes Act is a Supportive Housing Pool Fund, filed on behalf of and championed by United Way of Massachusetts Bay. This represents a new resource and approach to streamline and expand the production of housing plus services for individuals, families, youth and young adults who would otherwise experience homelessness.
United Way of Massachusetts Bay estimates that the Commonwealth needs to provide at least 10,000 housing opportunities with supportive housing across the state by 2030 to further the goal of ending chronic and high-need homelessness. Supportive housing is an innovative and proven solution that combines affordable housing with services that help people who face the most complex challenges to live with stability, autonomy and dignity.
“With this momentum on our side, we need to make sure that everyone benefits from our Commonwealth’s housing investments – including, and especially, those who have the most to gain from them – our neighbors experiencing homelessness,” said Daphne Principe-Griffin, Interim President and CEO at United Way of Massachusetts Bay. “The Affordable Homes Act provides United Way and our partners the ability to expand on highly effective, cost-efficient and proven strategies to reduce, and ultimately end, chronic homelessness in Massachusetts. It will benefit our entire community, and especially our neighbors with behavioral health needs or substance addiction needs, survivors of domestic violence, survivors of human trafficking, survivors of sexual violence, those at risk of entering or transitioning out of the foster care system.”
Principe-Griffin continued, “Thanks to the Healey Administration and House and Senate leadership, supportive housing and services will now be more quickly and equitably accessed by our most vulnerable residents. We applaud the collective efforts of legislative champions and advocates that ensure all are given the foundation of stable housing needed to thrive.”
United Way of Massachusetts Bay staff with Governor Maura Healey at the signing of the Affordable Homes Act.
Modeled after legislation proposed by State Representative Joan Meschino and State Senator Brendan Crighton, the provisions of the Affordable Homes Act related to supportive housing will advance the goals of United Way of Massachusetts Bay and its partners in ensuring that residents can access the housing and services they need. The legislation does this by creating a flexible supportive housing fund to connect Massachusetts’ most vulnerable residents with the permanent, supportive housing needed to stabilize, heal and thrive. Specifically, the AHA:
- Establishes a supportive housing initiative to finance PSH units for chronic and high-need populations experiencing homelessness that integrates supportive services, operating, and capital funding into one coordinated funding process through a collaboration between all relevant state funding agencies.
- Establishes a supportive housing initiative to finance PSH units for chronic and high-need populations experiencing homelessness that integrates supportive services, operating, and capital funding into one coordinated funding process through a collaboration between all relevant state funding agencies.
- Creates a public/private flexible fund to position the Commonwealth for significant private and philanthropic contributions to finance and scale up supportive housing and address funding gaps. This fund will be responsive to specific project needs, not limited by the local, state and federal requirements.
- Creates a public/private flexible fund to position the Commonwealth for significant private and philanthropic contributions to finance and scale up supportive housing and address funding gaps. This fund will be responsive to specific project needs, not limited by the local, state and federal requirements.
Affordable and supportive housing leaders across the Commonwealth applauded these provisions today, including Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance, the Massachusetts Association of Mental Health and the Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness. Together, these organizations join United Way of Massachusetts Bay in leading the Supportive Housing Coalition, a statewide coalition of more than 80 organizations working to creating the supportive housing needed to address chronic and high need homelessness in Massachusetts. Achieving these goals will not only dramatically reduce homelessness but will also reduce inflow to emergency shelter and care, decreasing costs across health, behavioral health, education, and other systems of care.
“As we strive to add 200,000 homes across income levels by 2030, providing a new tool to create supportive housing ensures that we can expand housing opportunities for people across income levels and that no one is left behind,” said Rachel Heller, Chief Executive Officer at CHAPA. “Supportive housing is vital for people who need homes and services to have a stable foundation to thrive."
“MHSA is grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Legislature for including the Supportive Housing Pool Fund in the Affordable Homes Act,” said Joyce Tavon, Chief Executive Officer at the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance. “By creating a flexible, streamlined mechanism for funding supportive housing, the Affordable Homes Act will strengthen the ability of communities across Massachusetts to solve homelessness.”
“MAMH applauds the Governor and the Legislature on the passage of the Housing Bond Bill,” said Danna Mauch, President and CEO, Massachusetts Association of Mental Health. “The Supportive Housing Flex Pool Fund creates the opportunity for life changing investments in safe, affordable, and supported housing for people who live with behavioral health conditions. These funds, when targeted to those individuals, will significantly reduce chronic homelessness and unnecessary institutionalization.”
"We have seen in western Massachusetts the powerful impact of permanent supportive housing in providing a lasting solution to chronic homelessness, and we know we need so much more of it," said Pamela Schwartz, Director of the Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness. This bill's inclusion of the Flexible Fund Pool for Permanent Supportive Housing offers a critical vehicle for creating more permanent supportive housing across all our communities. We are thrilled to see it happen."
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About the 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.