Clark: Protecting most vulnerable homeless a priority

By State Senator Katherine Clark

Last week, I attended an event sponsored by Housing Families, Inc. on homelessness in our communities. Cecil, a 56-year-old grandmother, told her story of refinancing her house to help a sister pay for cancer treatments which led to foreclosure. This forced her and her 5-year-old granddaughter into a motel where drug dealing, violence, and drinking were the norm. Cecil made a tearful plea to not forget her granddaughter during the budget and to vote for policies that provide a safer place for children than motels.

Each year, there are 600,000 families with more than a million children living homeless in the United States. From 2007 to 2008, the number of families in emergency shelters in the Commonwealth rose by 24 percent, and nationally families now make up 41 percent of the homeless. Currently in the Commonwealth, 800 homeless families continue to reside in motel rooms across the state. There are an additional 2,000 homeless families and 3,300 individual adults living in traditional shelter setting. In an effort to reduce these staggering numbers, I have made funding for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program along with Emergency Assistance programs two of my top budget priorities.

The Rental Voucher Program helps tenants with low incomes pay their rent in private apartments. This funding will preserve the tenancies of 5,100 households at a time when more working families, elders, and people with disabilities face rising housing instability. This program helps ensure access to apartments for people with extremely low income - an average of less than $11,000 a year.

Rental vouchers assist landlords too, by providing a steady stream of rental income that is especially critical during this economic downturn. MRVP inspectional requirements also help ensure that these units are high quality that protects property values.

Emergency Assistance programs include emergency and immediate housing for families in a crisis and a shelter program for young families under 21 years old. The Massachusetts Short Term program provides homelessness prevention services as well as resources for at-risk families who need immediate housing during a crisis.

We have a responsibility to help the growing number of homeless in Massachusetts. The high unemployment rate along with rising costs of rent has forced many families to choose between basic necessities and housing. Significant cuts to emergency shelters and other programs and services that help families would be devastating to the thousands of Commonwealth residents and children that are in desperate need.

Housing advocacy groups believe that an increase in awareness will play a significant role as they work for funding for these homelessness programs. These programs are not only rebuilding lives, they are also a cost efficient way towards solving homelessness. I am committed to working alongside these advocates to help the thousands of families desperate for a place to call home.