Massachusetts lawmakers will be voting today on a proposal aimed at easing the burden on the emergency shelter crisis in the state.
This comes as the number of migrants needing shelter here in Massachusetts continues to rise.
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Shelter capacity is now capped at 7,500 families, and as of Tuesday morning, 7,439 families were in emergency shelters.
State lawmakers are expected to vote Wednesday on a measure to put $250 million dollars toward the emergency shelter system. The House is adding stipulations on how that money can be spent -- earmarking $50 million dollars to create an emergency shelter overflow site within 30 days.
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At this point, $75 million would also be allocated to schools for the additional enrollments, and $65 million would be set aside for additional housing, food and training.
In the meantime, the state is activating another 75 members of the National Guard to help at hotel shelter sites across the Commonwealth, bringing the total to 375. And the state announced a $5 million dollar grant program with the United Way on Tuesday to help communities cover the cost of setting up and operating their own short-term overnight shelters.
But the concern is how long getting all of this in place will take and whether it will be enough to tackle the growing migrant crisis.
“I am worried about how long it might take to get those sites set up, but the fact that there's funding being dedicated to that, I think is a really important move right now," said Rachel Heller, CEO of the Citizens' Housing and Planning Association.
As we await that vote on Wednesday, even the Senate Ways and Means Committee chairman thinks more will need to be done.
“I believe that this $250 million that the governor requests will not get us through the end of the year," Sen. Michael Rodrigues said. "We do not want to see moms and children sleeping on the streets, sleeping in tents -- especially with winter coming.”
