HUD Awards Over $4.4 Million to Massachusetts Homeless Program

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Regional Administrator David Tille announced more than $4.4 million in grants to support Massachusetts homeless assistance programs.

This funding is part of $118 million being awarded across the country to 630 local programs. This round of HUD’s Continuum of Care grants will provide critically needed support to 21 Massachusetts local programs on the front lines, serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

Earlier this year, HUD announced $2.2 billion in grants to support thousands of local programs working towards addressing the needs of homeless individuals and families. 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.

In 2019, most of the country experienced a combined decrease in homelessness, however significant increases in unsheltered and chronic homelessness on the West Coast, particularly in 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 a 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: