On May 3, 2012, at Holyoke Community College, the Network brought together close to 100 people committed to building a collaboration between local housing authorities and community partners around preventing and ending homelessness in Western Massachusetts. Executive directors and staff from 15 housing authorities across the four counties attended, along with many city leaders, representatives from 6 state agencies, sheriff departments, hospitals, mental health agencies, housing and domestic violence providers, shelters and more. It was powerful testimony to the commitment in our region to address this problem and to the Network’s capacity to translate that commitment into action.
We heard excellent and informative presentations from Gerry McCafferty, Director of Housing for the City of Springfield, Judge Hank Abrashkin, executive director of the Springfield Housing Authority, and from DHCD leaders Bob Pulster, associate director of the Division of Housing Stabilization, and Lizbeth Heyer, associate director of the Division of Public Housing and Rental Assistance. Click here for Gerry’s presentation and click here for DHCD’s presentation.
We are taking this information and vision and bringing it to our next meeting:
Thursday, June 14
9 am – 11 am
Kittredge Center
Holyoke Community College
Please contact Pamela Schwartz at pschwartz77@gmail.com if you are interested in attending.
We will continue to build this collaboration towards the ultimate result of reducing homelessness in our region. This partnership is absolutely critical to our success, and the Network is grateful to everyone involved for making it possible.
