Shelter shortage forces MA state to house homeless in motels FWD
Tom Boland (wgcp@earthlink.net)
Mon, 15 Nov 1999 19:03:21 -0800 (PST)
***********************************************************
HOMELESS PEOPLE'S VIEWS, News, Alerts, Actions & Research
7,000+ ONLINE POSTS by or via homeless & ex-homeless people
HOMELESS PEOPLE'S NETWORK http://aspin.asu.edu/hpn
***********************************************************
What is the most cost-effective way to prevent, reduce and end
homelessness? Shelters? Welfare motels? Housing subsidies? Cash
entitlements? Training?
If not these, then what (if any) anti-poverty programs are worth funding?
http://newsfinder.arinet.com/fpweb/fp.dll/$stargeneral/htm/x_dv.htm/_ibyx/cg0302
6/_itox/starnet/_svc/news/_Id/623611563/_k/7MHlyFK676TYeUOf
FWD Associated Press - AP Wire Service - Nov 13, 1999 14:43
SHORTAGE OF SHELTER SPACE FORCES STATE TO HOUSE HOMELESS IN MOTELS
BOSTON (AP) _ For the first time in four years, a lack of
shelter space across Massachusetts is forcing the state to place
poor families in motels rather than shelters.
Although 150 out of 800 families in the Massachusetts shelter
system have Section 8 housing certificates, the vouchers are
all-but-useless because of a lack of affordable apartment units,
housing officials said.
``This is the flip side of the strong economy,'' said Dick
Power, spokesman for the Department of Transitional Assistance.
``The economy has helped move people from welfare to work, but has
put us in a housing crisis by placing rents out of reach of the
working poor.''
In the early 1990s, the state was criticized by some for housing
families in motels far away from their old neighborhoods. At that
time, as many as 400 families were put up in motels, but that
number had dropped to zero since 1995, Powers said.
The number is rising again. Since September, 20 families, most
of them from the Greater Boston area, have been placed in motels in
Peabody, Malden and West Boylston, Powers said.
The state pays between $60 to $100 a night to keep a homeless
family in a motel. Housing officials said it costs the state $112 a
night to house families in large shelters.
Jacqueline Armstrong and her six children have been living in
the Carriage House Motel in Peabody since their apartment in
Boston's Roxbury neighborhood burned down last month. The family
shares three beds in one room in the motel.
``It's terrible, but I'm trying my best to make it feel like
home,'' Armstrong, 37, who receives welfare, told The Boston Globe.
Her four boys and two girls, ranging in age from 1 to 11,
haven't attended school since they became homeless last month.
Officials said they hope to move families like the Armstrongs
out of the motels within five days and into a shelter closer to
their own neighborhoods.
The shortage in housing space comes while the state is seeking
$6.5 million for additional shelter units across the state, said
Nicole Witherbee, the policy coordinator for the Massachusetts
Coalition for the Homeless.
Witherbee suggests the state pay to put families in temporary
apartments, which are leased by private owners to homeless
agencies. Temporary apartments cost $68 a day and give the families
access to a refrigerator and stove.
``The shelter system is completely full, but at least they are
putting them into a hotel,'' Witherbee said. ``Before, they were
saying 'Go away and come back another day.'''
AP-ES-11-13-99 1543EST
Received Id AP993172F3911D9 on Nov 13 1999 14:43
END FORWARD
**In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.**
*******************************************************
HOMELESS PEOPLE'S NETWORK <http://aspin.asu.edu/hpn>
7,000+ POSTS by or via homeless & ex-homeless people
Nothing About Us Without Us - Democratize Public Policy
*******************************************************