Massachusetts family unable to find housing after email informing them to leave shelter

An email to a homeless family living at one of the Massachusetts hotels providing emergency shelter sheds light on the process for the eventual relocation of the family.

Fall River Reporter has obtained a copy of an email sent to a family at the end of October that gives notice to the family having stayed in the shelter for 9 months. It states that the EA (Emergency Assistance) program is full and there are “many eligible families on a waitlist for emergency shelter” and there is a 9 month limit on how long a family can stay in a shelter unless given an extension.

According to the family, they were sent another email stating they had to leave but were approved for an extension. A new date to exit the property is scheduled for the end of January next year.

The email details that if housing has been found, the HomeBASE program can offer families up to $30,000 over 2 years, with the possibility of another $15,000 over a 3rd year, averaging just under $1,250 per month over three years.

But the person we spoke with, a single parent, says they work full time and have limits to the amount of money they can make, or they will be kicked off the emergency shelter program. In order to stay eligible for housing, they cannot earn more than a certain amount in a month. The family has HomeBASE assistance available but finding an apartment has been difficult. Most landlords want tenants to have an income that is more than triple the cost of rent for units renting between $1,500 and $2,000 a month, something this family can’t do without exceeding the guidelines of the emergency shelter program.

“I’ve been trying to find a place but if they take HomeBASE, they want me to still make 3x the rent but as a shelter resident, I can’t make too much or risk being ineligible for shelter but it’s still not enough to find a place.”

The frustration to secure adequate housing continues for those in Massachusetts, where the average monthly price for an apartment rental in December is $3,096, according to newly released data by Zillow. The Affordable Homes Act, signed into law by Governor Maura Healey back in August, aims to impact the lack of affordable housing but how fast that funding can impact the current housing crisis is unknown.

The family says they have applied for a second extension but have not yet been approved.