Yesterday at the State House, people gathered to protest Governor Healey’s new rule changes regarding family shelter.
The protest was organized by the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Homes for All Massachusetts, UU Mass Action, City Life/Vida Urbana, Lynn United for Change, and Greater Boston Legal Services.
Please read more about the changes afoot as soon as next week in the State House news article here or in PDF format here.
Pulling out a couple of summary quotes below:
“While we agree that shelter stays should be as short as possible, they should match the realities of the needs families have; the realities of the job and housing market.” – Kelly Turley, Associate Director, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless.
“It’s [the new rules are] going to put more and more families on the street as the weather gets colder and colder. In August we had families sleeping at train stations, and that was unsafe, but it was possible in August. That is not possible tonight. And so we cannot stand by and let this happen.” – Carolyn Chou, Executive Director, Homes for All Massachusetts.
In our own region, we know there are families sleeping in cars and parks right now, before these new rules go into effect. We will keep you posted about continuing advocacy.
