A Message From Our Executive Director |
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Season’s Greetings!
Since the start of the pandemic, getting financial assistance to those in need has remained our highest priority. Since July 1, Metro Housing has distributed $72 million in assistance to 9,280 households, more than the $63 million that we distributed in all of FY21.
In addition to providing much needed emergency housing and rent assistance, Metro Housing’s staff has continued to provide services to the thousands of families and individuals who have housing vouchers through Section 8 and MRVP, receive guidance from our Fair Housing and Civil Rights Project, and get connected to services through our multitude of colocations. Metro Housing also deepened its relationships with health care partners such as Boston Medical Center, Children’s Hospital, Winchester Hospital, Mass General Brigham, and Community Care Cooperative to support the region’s most vulnerable populations.
We are hopeful, like all of you, that with the public taking the proper precautions such as receiving vaccinations and wearing masks in indoor public spaces that life will soon return to what we all know as normal.
All of us at Metro Housing wish you and your loved ones a very safe and happy New Year.
Chris Norris
Executive Director
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Help Us Keep Families
Housed This Winter
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Meet Melissa.
Homeless, addicted to drugs, & newly pregnant, Melissa began the journey toward sobriety so she could care for her son. After initially bouncing among multiple shelters, she was placed in a shelter for parents in recovery, where she lived for many years.
Read how Metro Housing helped Melissa find a new home for her and her son HERE.
Please consider donating to
Metro Housing so that we can help more people like Melissa.
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Holiday Drive Helps
Families in Need
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As the weather grows cold and winter settles in, the needs of our families grows drastically. With the help of generous donors, Metro Housing has been able to provide:
- More than $10,000 in gift cards for families to purchase holiday meals.
- More than 50 winter coats thanks to an anonymous corporate donor.
- More than 200 items from a Holiday Drive - including winter coats, gloves, hats, and board games - to go directly to children of our families.
We wish to thank the following sponsors that helped make our 2021 holiday giving program so successful:
JP Morgan Chase,
Peabody Companies, and
Maloney Properties.
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Champions of Housing Raises
Nearly $400,000
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Champions of Housing honors leaders in our community who share our passion and commitment to ensuring that everyone in Greater Boston has a place to call home. The 2021 event was held on November 4 and Co-chaired by Melissa Fish-Crane and Karen Fish-Will of Peabody Properties, Inc.
FES participant, Denisse Tejada (bottom center), spoke about her experiences and how Metro Housing helped her achieve economic security.
The 2021 Champions of Housing honorees were:
Champions Award
Joe Rettman - President of NEI General Contracting (Bottom right)
Lowell L. Richards III Award
COVID-19 Response Award
Brendan Goodwin - Senior Housing Specialist, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Formerly of MA Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD). (Top right)
Rising Star Awards
Teronda Ellis - Chief Executive Officer of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (Top center)
Alexander Train - Director, Housing and Community Development Department for the City of Chelsea (Top left)
To view the entire Champions of Housing event, please click HERE.
For a complete of this year's sponsors, please click HERE.
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Team Metro Housing Runs to End Homelessness
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The 2021 Team Metro Housing (from the top left, clockwise): Carolina Sholl; Margarita Duncan; Lindsay Bahal; Kate Henderson; Rob Thompson. |
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Team Metro Housing has had runners compete and raise funds through the Boston Marathon since 2006 thanks to the John Hancock Nonprofit Program, raising more than $515,000 during that time.
For the first time ever, the Boston Marathon was held in October due to COVID-19. On October 10, Team Metro Housing took to the streets between Hopkinton and Boston in the name of raising money for Metro Housing programs. Together, they have raised more than $40,000!
Learn more about what inspired this year's team to run click HERE.
The 2022 Boston Marathon will be held on April 18, 2022 and Team Metro Housing 2022 will be announced soon. To learn how you can support the team, please click HERE.
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Metro Housing Helping Our Communities |
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Metro Housing recently responded to area communities to help residents facing housing crises.
In August, Metro Housing teamed with the city of Belmont, DHCD, Belmont Housing Trust, and Belmont Helps to assist residents of an apartment building (left) who were displaced due to an emergency evacuation.
Metro Housing started a fundraising campaign for ten of the families who had no place to go. The campaign raised more than $30,000 to help cover their temporary housing and moving expenses. Though most families were able to eventually return to their units, Metro Housing used Emergency Assistance Funds to assist four families find new permanent housing in Belmont.
In Reading, Metro Housing partnered with Reading Co-Operative Bank, the Salvation Army, and the town of Reading to assist 35 families displaced from their homes due to electrical and flooding issues in their apartment building. We helped residents move to permanent stable housing by covering moving and broker costs from the $20,000 that was raised.
In October, Metro Housing partnered with the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB) to help building owners and tenants who are having trouble paying rent and mortgages due to the pandemic. Volunteers assisted families complete and submit applications for emergency financial assistance. More than 40 families were assisted at the one-day event held at the Metro Housing offices.
In Woburn last month, Metro Housing teamed with town officials to host a Housing Resource Center. More than fifteen families received assistance to help them navigate their housing concerns, including help with completing applications for emergency rental assistance.
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Left: A family receives assistance with their application for financial assistance.
Right: Volunteers from GREB and Metro Housing at the Financial Assistance Workshop in October.
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Help Families in Need by Volunteering
With Metro Housing
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Volunteers help prepare a home for a family ready to move in. |
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You can help families and individuals in Greater Boston achieve housing stability and a brighter future. Now more than ever, your support is critical to help prevent and alleviate the impact of homelessness in Boston.
How you can help:
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Coordinate a Donation Drive – Get together with your friends and family to collect needed items, including gift cards, basic home goods, and holiday gifts for children in the families we serve.
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Volunteer with our Outreach Team – Get trained on Metro Housing’s program and help us get the word out about our services throughout our service area in Greater Boston.
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Volunteer with our Green Space Financial Coaching Team – Become a financial mentor to a family ready to take the next step to financial stability.
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Bridget (above left) volunteered at a recent Financial Assistance Workshop at Metro Housing. |
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UNPRECEDENTED NEED.
EXTRAORDINARY IMPACT.
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Metro Housing's FY21 Impact Report - UNPRECEDENTED NEED. EXTRAORDINARY IMPACT - is now available. For the first time ever, the Impact Report was produced as a website to provide greater reach and flexibility.
The report presents individual stories of families that were served by Metro Housing over the last year and the impact that our services had in keeping them housed. In addition, there is a welcome letter from Chris Norris and our Board co-chairs, Elizabeth Gruber and Cynthia Lacasse; a "By the Numbers" look at Metro Housing's programs; highlights from the past year; and a list of all who donated to Metro Housing in FY21.
The online version of the Impact Report includes Metro Housing's Impact Video, where families speak directly about how they were helped by Metro Housing.
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Emergency Housing Payment Assistance Report Released
EHPA programs, including RAFT,
assisted 10,000 families with $63 million
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Metro Housing has released a new report - EHPA IN REVIEW - an annual overview and analysis of Metro Housing's Emergency Housing Payment Assistance programs, including RAFT.
One highlight: We helped more than 10,000 families with $63 million in assistance!
Since 2013, Metro Housing has been documenting the effectiveness of RAFT in providing housing stability and preventing homelessness. But FY21 was unlike any other year.
EHPA IN REVIEW examines the impact of the pandemic’s rapidly changing landscape and the state and federal responses to those changes: the infusion of funds, the expansion of eligibility to access those funds, the streamlining of the application process, and quicker release of dollars. These changes resulted in a complete shift in how Metro Housing’s housing payment assistance operated. Flexibility became key, and quickly increasing staff capacity became crucial.
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Metro Housing|Boston
Phone: 617.859.0400
Toll-Free: 800.272.0990
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