HUD Awards $76.5 Million to Local Massachusetts Homeless Programs

BOSTON – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Regional Administrator David Tille announced more than $76.5 million in grants to Massachusetts to support 217 local homeless assistance projects.

This funding is part of nearly $2.2 billion in national grants to support thousands of local homeless assistance programs across the nation. HUD’s Continuum of Care grants will provide critically needed support nationally to approximately 6,593 local programs on the front lines, serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

This is the first of two announcements of Continuum of Care awards. View a complete list of all the state and local homeless projects awarded funding.

“This funding is critical to local Massachusetts programs that are on the front lines of helping those who might otherwise be living on our streets,” said David Tille, HUD New England Regional Administrator. “We are proud of the collaborative work being done across New England to find creative solutions to end homelessness.

HUD Continuum of Care grant funding supports a broad array of interventions designed to assist individuals and families experiencing homelessness, particularly those living in places not meant for habitation, located in sheltering programs, or at imminent risk of becoming homeless. Each year, HUD serves more than a million people through emergency shelter, transitional, and permanent housing programs.

HUD continues to challenge state and local planning organizations called “Continuums of Care” to support their highest performing local programs that have proven most effective in meeting the needs of persons experiencing homelessness in their communities.

In 2019, most of the country experienced a combined decrease in homelessness but significant increases in unsheltered and chronic homelessness on the West Coast, particularly California and Oregon, offset those nationwide decreases, causing an overall increase in homelessness of 2.7 percent. HUD’s 2019 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress found that 567,715 persons experienced homelessness on a single night in 2019, an increase of 2.7 percent since 2018 but nearly 11 percent decline since 2010. The number of families with children experiencing homelessness declined 5 percent from 2018 and more than 32 percent since 2010. Local communities also reported a continuing trend in reducing veteran homelessness across the country—the number of veterans experiencing homelessness fell 2.1 percent since January 2018 and by 50 percent since 2010.

The grants HUD is awarding include the following: