State To End Homeless Program Placing Homeless Families in Tewksbury Hotel
The longstanding program places families in hotels all over the state, including Tewskbury.
The state Dept. of Housing and Community Development plans to end a program that places homeless families in hotels, including one in Tewksbury, according to the Boston Globe.
The program, which started during the 1980s, would end by June 30, 2014.
With the closing, the state plans to bolster efforts to find permanent housing and prevent homelessness, according to the Globe. However, housing advocates fear permanent housing for program participants may never be found, according to the Globe.
The decision comes as the economic downturn stretched the program to its 2,000 hotel room limit, according to the Globe.
Aaron Gornstein, undersecretary for DHCD, told the Globe the program is not an "efficient" use of taxpayer money.
While the program gives needy families shelter, it leaves them without places for their children to play or to cook a meal, and burdens taxpayers with a hefty bill, according to the Globe. The program costs state taxpayers $45 million annually.
Specifically, families placed in Tewksbury stay at the Extended Stay America on Andover Street. As of December 2011, according to the Massachusetts State Auditor's Office, five families, including 11 children, were staying at the hotel.
The program also places families in hotels in Framingham, Chelmsford, Burlington, Bedford, Danvers, Malden, Marlborough, Natick, Northborough, Waltham, Woburn and Framingham, according to the Auditor's Office.
Originally, the program was meant as temporary shelter for families, but some have stayed more than a year, according to the Globe.
Despite the plans to end the prorgram, housing advocates believe some families may no have no place to go when they lose their hotel rooms, according to the Globe. Several months ago, the state tightened requirements for emergency shelter which some housing advocates say will result in families living in their cars, the Globe reported.
The state is already working on help for impacted families, planning to make 1,000 “supportive” housing units available for families, according to the Globe. Also, last year the state created a program to provide eligible families financial assitance to avoid becoming homeless or find new and permanent housing, according to the Globe.
The move comes as the number of families in hotels statewide has jumped recently. In December 2010, 771 families were in hotels rooms. By December 2012, around 1,700 families were in hotels.
D.James
10:05 am on Thursday, January 3, 2013
So what happens to all the families and kids?.....They go in the street?
Who Me?
11:04 am on Thursday, January 3, 2013
God Forbid....they may actually have to do what the rest of us do...get up everyday and go to work!
Oh the horror......
Joe Bill
11:15 am on Thursday, January 3, 2013
I know it's a novel concept in this day and age of Obama and socialism but maybe some of them could try and earn a living and support their families??? I know this sounds very crazy and radical but it's just a thought.
listen before you spew at the mouth!
12:26 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
dont judge until you know all the facts!! ive lived in a shelter in the past and WORKED *gasp* *gasp* as well as most of the other ladies that lived there...worked full time! so before you go making smart ass remarks to try to be funny and act like u know it all...dont! cuz youre not funny and you dont know crap!
Comment
10:43 am on Thursday, January 3, 2013
Another article showed it averaged $3000 to house a family in a hotel - without cooking facilities or playspaces for children, vs. $800 to get them an subsidized apartment. It is a huge cost savings. I'm sure the hotels will miss the revenue, but I don't think a motel room without a kitchen or bedrooms - at that cost - is a smart way to house these families. I don't believe they will just kick these people out - they will have to have some sort of a transition plan. Hopefully it will begin an overhaul with some better oversight on the allocation of units (to make sure they are really lived in by people who qualify). I hope there will be some sort of motivation to get people back on their feet and on their own as well.
Who Me?
1:14 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
Hey Listen…..Ahhhh…Thanks for being so appreciative of all the hard earned money we Taxpayers spend on folks like you. I actually used to be resentful having to work 50+ hours a week to support my family as well as folks like yourself. Having read your post it has actually inspired me to try and get a second job in hope that most of that extra labor will go to support grateful folks like yourself.
Don’t thank me…..it’s the least I can do…..
listen before you spew at the mouth!
1:20 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
hmmm hope you will have your life turned upside down and actually see what REALLY goes on in life! the few that are lazy and live off the system have nothing to do with the ones that actually try to make it! but you seem to be too ignorant to understand any of it!
Comment
1:42 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
As for the above comments, I have volunteered in local family shelters. I do see the abuse of "the system" so I do feel there should be requirements. People should be working, actively looking for work daily at the Career Center and be able to document why they are not getting hired. If the person is intentionally blowing interviews, then that's a problem. Or people should be in school full time at Middlesex or other Community college....but not for free. They should have to "work" off their tuition either by working in an entry level job in a hospital, on one of the college campuses or as a child care provider for others who work full time or go to school full time, or working for local towns - something where workers are needed, but budgets aren't available to pay them. They get the education while bettering themselves to get out of "the system".
I know the cost of living is high in this area and it's extremely difficult for someone to have a full time job, at minimum wage, with children, to afford rent. I have no problem giving a hand up to people who are working or trying to better themselves and suport their families. but I have also seen those in the cycle of the system and that's all they know, so that's what they do. We have to find a way to end the cycle.
listen before you spew at the mouth!
1:49 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
well thats not what you said to begin with! you lumped all aid recipents in 1 catagory!! i do get help, not much but then again i only get what i need! i put my self through 4 years of college, while working and taking care of a child by myself, no family to help no "father" to help, no DOR to enforce said loser to help. you cannot say we are all the same! i work and ALWAYS have worked so you can see why i had to put my 2 cents in!
listen before you spew at the mouth!
1:50 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
let me retrack that...not "you" who made previous statements, but whomever
Joe Bill
2:25 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
When you say you out yourself through 4 years of college did you have some help from the tax payers of MA? Many of us too put ourselves through college but didn't make poor decisions resulting in needing to live in a shelter. By the way, 4 years is quite along time to get through Middlesex.
Bob
1:51 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
I hate generalizations. I know many women in tough circumstances that would rather cut off an arm or donate a kidney before asking for help. Some to their own and children's detriment.
I also know several who are on the other side and milk the system for all they can get. They work at Dunkins for 6 months or so, get fired and go back in the system for a couple of years. After they are tagged for their handout ending, they find another job, work 6 months and get fired again and right back into the system for a few more years. They know all the rules and what to say/do to get the maximum aid. If you ask them they will say "the government owes it to me" which blows me away.
listen before you spew at the mouth!
2:17 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
i agree! 1 i don't like generalizations and 2 i hate people who abuse the system, staying at home with 20 kids 16 baby daddies and sell and do drugs, drink and think they are owed everything. I will say, i dont like the fact that i need some help but for my son i will swallow my pride and ask for it!
Just saying
2:26 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
The sad fact is a lot of families in trouble these days are working families. I know one family that had everything and lost it all due to job loss their home, cars,health insurance and they had to place their pets in a shelter which crushed their children.
Think before you speak for one day it may well be you in need of help.
Bob
2:42 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
There but for the grace of God go us all!
listen before you spew at the mouth!
2:33 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
joe bill...yes i did say 4 years, thats typically how long it takes to obtain a B.S. and i got grants and many scholarships for MCC which EVERYONE is entitled to appyl for....the last 2 years was from a state college, which resulted in student loans. and who said anything about ME making poor decissions in which resulted my hardship???? again, think before u assume, you're only making an ass out of yourself!
Patrick Conner
6:00 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
Lot of smart asses on here hope these scumbags will be homeless some day so they can see what these people have to go through
Steevo
7:00 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
You shouldn't point your finger with that kind of hate.
There are people who genuinely need help not of their own fault, then there are those who have abused personal responsibility and a system supposedly intended to help the truly deserved. People are angry because there are not proper controls to prevent the many (and there are indeed many) who do abuse and know they can.
This is tax dollars extracted out of the pockets of those of us who are responsible. It's wrong and we have every moral right to voice it. But, what has happened is we are the ones pegged as wrong and "uncaring" by a progressive media and politicians who are into spending others' money for ideology and political control.
What you are reading here is a backlash. A lot of people feel it.
stephanie
7:32 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
Amen bob...and patrick..... Its true,We are all human. Judge not lest you be judged. Or....perhaps find yourself in a similar situation. Pride comes before a fall....... some people can be such asses, for real it amazes me.
LR
9:06 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
Wow. All I can say is I hope I never need it, but I am glad that help is out there. I cannot see how people can support a family making minimum wage in MA without help. Decent daycare for a child in diapers is $250 per week on average about 3/4 what the min. wage earner makes. So if you were earning better than minimum decided to have a child, got laid off and the only thing you can find is a minimum wage job because of the economy, how are you supposed to support your family. I hope I could count on the government I have been putting my hard earned tax dollars into all these years to help. I do agree however that it should not be a hand out and that the receiver should have to work somehow as COMMENT stated. Please don't label all who need help as freeloaders because some people are. And in case you are wondering. No. My family and I have been fortunate enough to never need this kind of help, but I do know hard working people who have.
Comment
11:37 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
I hope I didn't offend anyone. I just have seen this system work as intended, help people who have found themselves needing a hand up. I also have seen people stuck in the cycle who just seem to have limited themselves to working this system. I think it could be beneficial to recipients if they have to go to school and/or do some sort of work that will build them a resume. Initially minimum wage isn't enough, but hopefully with a college degree and experience, they won't be at minimum wage forever and be able to better their lives and the lives of their children.
I am absolutely not judging anyone who is in need.
Who Me?
6:14 am on Friday, January 4, 2013
Millions and Millions of Taxpayer money is being wasted, abused, and pizzed up a tree..daily.
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/01/welfare_recipients_%E2%80%98missing%E2%80%99
malcolm nichols
3:41 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013
It is not the governments job to get involved at all or ever. It is our families, private organizations and charities for which we should turn.