In new strategy, state asks locals to host unhoused, migrant families as officials scramble to expand shelters
July 15, 2023
Gabrielle Emanuel
The state is seeking people to host newly arrived families in need of shelter. The host families are asked to provide a room or apartment for a few days, until longer-term accommodations are arranged. A significant portion of the families in need of housing in Massachusetts are newly arrived immigrants. Many of those arriving in Boston have fled violence in Haiti and traveled through other states before coming to Massachusetts.
The new host family strategy comes as the state scrambles to expand shelter capacity and provide for an increasing number of homeless families. The state’s new Family Welcome Center in Allston is tasked with recruiting, vetting and onboarding host families, as well as pairing them with the families in need.
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“This has previously been a practice among Resettlement Agencies and other volunteers who work to support new arrivals,” said Karissa Hand, press secretary for the Healey administration, in a statement. Host families are generally drawn from the community and volunteer networks, her statement said, adding that the Brazilian Worker Center has a contract with the state’s Office for Refugees and Immigrants to run the Family Welcome Center in Allston.
https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/07/15/host-homes-immigrant
