Three County Continuum of Care
February 2025 Newsletter
Spotlight
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On December 21, 2024 the CoC held a candlelight vigil at First Churches in Northampton for National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day. For those interested, videos of the opening & closing words are available here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dskkUMa0zmM.
One of the attendants was Charlie, a well-known community member who has experienced homelessness. Following the vigil, Charlie wrote a heartfelt letter and gave us permission to share some of his words:
"Here is the point of all of this. In order to get any help, my experience was, if you were facing the possibility of being homeless, was to go to a large city and try and get work. In other words to leave Home and go to a strange land.
No different than most of the migrants at our borders and no different from the ancestors of most of the people that complain about migrants at our southern borders.
So if the landlocked counties and their small towns and city municipalities can work together to craft a new way of avoiding homelessness and at the same time respecting the dignity of those facing possible homelessness we can share such a model with the rest of New York and New England. If we can find local solutions to avoid homelessness that would allow the recipients to give back on some sort of 'in kind' service, like maybe answering the phone at town hall on certain days of the week for a certain period of time. If we can do that the 'payback' would never really be the same as the money outlaid, but it would be at least some gesture that the person could do and so accept that help with dignity and not be stigmatized.
AND as that person is seeking the funds to repair or regain their home/shelter, right now they are doing it in a foreign land.
The foreign land might be the next county or a few towns away, but it IS NOT HOME.
I have talked probably too long.
But I hope we can have geographical meetings of interested people in our various geographic areas that can come together and see what we can do locally so that people do not become homeless in the first place.
Now is the time for greatness. Now is the time to care about each other."
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Legislative & Advocacy Updates
Beacon Hill is working on a supplemental budget to fund the family shelter system through the end of June. Both the House and the Senate have passed very similar bills that provide $425 million and impose a cap of 4,000 families as of December 31 (there are currently over 6,000 families in shelter, and that number has not been anywhere close to 4,000 in over 2 years), reduce maximum length of stay to 6 months (currently 9), require proof of MA residency and intent to stay in MA, mandate criminal background checks for all applicants, and make temporary respite sites available for up to 30 days for families that appear eligible. Many providers and advocates worry that the burdens imposed by these new policies will cause further harm to families experiencing homelessness.
To stay up to date, please subscribe to the Western MA Network to End Homelessness’ blog.
Last week, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) released Massachusetts' first ever housing plan, accompanied by a statewide housing needs assessment. You can check them both out here.
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Community Updates
Back in November, EOHLC announced that the state was going to move away from using hotel/motels as shelters for families experiencing homelessness. The Days Inn in Greenfield is the first in the region, and will be closing on February 28th. All the families who were in that shelter (close to 60 over the past ~20 months) have found housing! While the Days Inn will no longer serve as a shelter, the Family Inn will still be operational.​​
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The 2024 Youth Count, sponsored by the Massachusetts Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Commission and conducted in April 2024, has been released. The data shows 51 youth in our Three County region that were 24 or younger, not in the physical custody/care of a parent or legal guardian, and lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. Of these 51 individuals, 16% were unsheltered, 18% were in TH, and 29% were doubled up/couch surfing. Berkshire, Franklin, and Hampshire Counties total about 5% of the total population of MA, but the 51 unaccompanied youth represent almost 8% of unaccompanied youth state-wide.
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The CoC is actively recruiting for all of our committees and workgroups! If you are interested in data, equity, systems reimagining & improvement, youth and young adults, and more, please reach out to Emma.
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Finally, our 2025 Climate Survey is updated and ready to be filled out! The survey will be available until March 7th. We invite everyone to spend 10-15 minutes sharing their thoughts and experiences, but we are requiring staff at all CoC-funded projects to complete.
Things to Read
Criminalizing Homelessness Worsens the Crisis, Research Shows
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If you are going to read anything further, let it be this 6-page brief that clearly & succinctly presents the evidence for why criminalizing homelessness does not work.
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“Ticketing, jailing, sweeping, and punishing people who are homeless does not reduce homelessness. On the contrary, the research reviewed in this brief shows criminalization makes homelessness worse. Each move-along order or encampment eviction contributes to further marginalization, perpetuating a cycle of negative effects which are increasingly difficult to escape.​
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What I Learned from 32 Years of Writing About Homelessness
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“Housing will fix homelessness, not more plans.”
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“But the fact is the societal landscape for those on the bottom decayed, and the subsequent cascade of programmatic failures and conservative attacks on support for the lower and middle classes are a lot of what led us to where we are today”
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‘What we have to remember is that every one of those people sleeping rough is worth saving.”
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“And here’s a core thing I have learned in all these years of living and reporting: nobody really wants to be homeless.”
Longtime Portland shelter providers have questions about Mayor Keith Wilson’s shelter plan ​
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“The plan also adds a new rule for all 24/7 shelters: People can only stay for up to 90 days at a time, and they are required to regularly meet with social service workers and work on finding housing or work. Yet the plan includes no funding or strategy for connecting people to permanent housing or other programs to ensure they aren’t returning to homelessness after their 90 days are up. This model has longtime shelter providers scratching their heads. ‘These requirements assume engagement will get you on a path to housing and income,” said Bernal. “You can meet with case managers all day and night, but without housing available, it’s not going to work.’”
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“‘the nighttime shelter system is absolutely necessary as part of the continuum of care...but I 100 percent believe that we need to pour energy and resources into places where people can go next’”
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“‘If we want people to say yes to the shelter options, then we need to design them in such a way that they meet people’s needs...not threaten them’”
Pittsfield Takes 'Big Step' With Supportive Housing
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Pittsfield received almost $42 million in ARPA funding, a third of which has gone to housing.
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"'Our goal isn't to just shelter people, our goal is to house people,' Housing Secretary Ed Augustus said. 'Shelter is a stop along the way, perhaps, but it's not an end goal. The end goal is a home.'"
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National Alliance for Homelessness, "Housing-Focused Street Outreach Framework"
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The five core elements of the framework are Data and Impact Analysis to Inform Decision-Making; Strategic Collaboration and Partnerships; Person-Centered Engagement; Promotion of Community Health and Safety; and Housing-Focused Approach Anchored in Housing First
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Upcoming
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*recorded webinar from Jan 24* Flexible Cash Assistance Models for Preventing Youth Homelessness
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*recorded webinar from Feb 12* Interim Strategies for Responding to Unsheltered Homelessness
February 25th at 2:00-3:00: Tenant Protection Series ("Just Cause" Eviction Protections)
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February 27th at 6:00: Know Your Rights (MA Office for Refugees and Immigrants)
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March 19th at 10:00-11:00: Fiscal Office Hours
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March 29th at 3:00: Mass Deportation: What's Happening to the Children?
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April 16th at 10:00-11:00: Fiscal Office Hours
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