Massachusetts announced plans Monday to let homeless families stay overnight in the state transportation building in Boston as officials scramble to find shelter for newly arriving families after hitting a state-imposed limit of 7,500 families in the state’s emergency homeless shelter system.
The space located in the office building is large enough to provide overnight shelter for up to 25 families with cots and limited amenities and will only be used in the evening and overnight hours, officials said.
“To ensure that families eligible for Emergency Assistance shelter have a safe and warm place to sleep at night when there is not a shelter unit immediately available, the administration is utilizing space at 10 Park Plaza as a temporary, overnight facility,” the state’s Emergency Assistance Director General Scott Rice said in a statement.
MA LEGISLATIVE SESSION CLOSES WITHOUT DEAL ON $250 MILLION EMERGENCY HOMELESS SHELTER FUNDING
As of Friday, there were 92 families on the state’s waiting list for emergency shelter.
The transportation building includes offices for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which runs greater Boston’s public transit system, and other transportation agencies.
