Shelter for migrant families roils city
Quincy college to host community meeting Tuesday
QUINCY — An emergency state shelter for dozens of migrant families at a local college has sparked a divisive debate in the city, as supporters argue that the community has a duty to help people in need while critics say Quincy should take care of its own residents first.
The shelter, which opened last month at Eastern Nazarene College, was the target of a neo-Nazi rally over the weekend. And during a heated meeting at a local elementary school in August, many raised unfounded fears that the shelter would lead to higher crime, impact the schools, and drain city resources.
The debate has rocked the city, where nearly a third of residents are immigrants and about two dozen languages are spoken in its school system. It comes as the state’s emergency shelter system — required by law to provide housing for homeless families with children — was housing 6,373 families as of Monday morning, more than a third of whom are immigrants, according to the state.
State officials and the Christian liberal arts college are expected to discuss the shelter and provide more details to residents during a community meeting Tuesday night. Advocates believe the meeting will be a critical moment to show support for the state program, and the Quincy shelter, which now houses 55 families, many of whom fled Haiti.
“They need help, and it’s the right thing to do,” Maggie McKee, a shelter supporter, said Monday. “We’re all human beings, and I think we can make room for people .... We will be richer for it.”
But some in Quincy, including Mayor Thomas Koch, say they are concerned that the shelter program is not sustainable. Across the state, there is a shortage of housing. Quincy already is challenged to create affordable homes
for residents and help its homeless population, including people battling addiction, he said.
“I certainly have empathy, and when you look at some of these places that these folks have come [from] — the violence and terrible living conditions — I certainly understand folks wanting to get out of there,” Koch said.
“As a gateway community, we’re already under stress,” he said. “It makes it very, very challenging.”
Governor Maura Healey, who has declared a state of emergency because of the migrant crisis, has scrambled to shore up the state’s emergency shelter system. That includes finding more shelter space, including at college campuses.
In November, a shelter for 104 families opened up at Salem State University, including migrants and existing residents, in the city where Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll had served as mayor. And officials are eyeing two other campuses — UMass Lowell and Westfield State University.
Kevin Connor, a spokesperson for the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, said state officials are working quickly to find housing for families in the emergency program. They also work closely with local officials, including law enforcement, to ensure the safety and security of the shelter sites, he said.
“We obviously are extremely appreciative, and could not do this without the support of local communities,” Connor said.
Bill McCoy, vice president of academic affairs and dean at the college, said officials hope the meeting Tuesday helps “correct some of the erroneous and/or speculative ideas” about the shelter.
“We have done our best to allay community concerns as they have come to us, and we are thankful for the many individuals and organizations who have reached out to learn how they can support the family guests on our campus,” McCoy said in an email.
Critics of the college shelter have argued on community Facebook pages that the families are drawing resources away from the city’s existing residents.
“They should send them back! Maybe fix America first like homeless addicts, rent prices, and more!” one commenter wrote.
Another critic complained the shelter program was unfair: “Free health care, free housing, free education, free money .... how about taking care of our own first?”
Last month, during a community meeting that drew hundreds to the gymnasium of a local elementary school, many residents complained about the presence of the migrant families in Quincy, according to attendees.
There were boos and yells from many participants, and complaints ran the gamut from a perceived threat to neighborhood property values because of the shelter, to fear it would lead to an increase in crime, and to increased costs for schools and other local resources.
“I was heartbroken. [The response] makes me super sad,” said Kathy Geraghty, who was at the session and supports the college shelter. “I feel like it’s not welcoming.”
The fears expressed during the meeting have not borne out, according to Koch, who also attended. There have been no police calls because of the families staying at the shelter, and no students have enrolled in the city’s schools.
“Since this started, we haven’t had any issues at all,” Koch said in an interview. “There’s been no burdens at this point on the financials of the city.”
Over the weekend, the shelter was targeted by about two dozen members of the neo-Nazi group NSC-131, who marched on to the campus and chanted slogans like “Whose streets? Our streets!” and “Go home!” just outside one of the college’s buildings around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, according to Quincy police.
The white supremacists appeared to have been coordinated, and silently closed in on a campus building before chanting and igniting red flares, a witness said.
Koch condemned the neoNazis as “fools” and local police arrived within minutes of the neo-Nazis’ appearance. The group left about 20 minutes later. There were no arrests.
Such advocates for migrants as McKee and Mimi Balsamo, who helps organize StandOut Quincy 4 Black Lives, organized a counter-demonstration Sunday to support the families.
Balsamo, 76, spent the first two decades of her life in Quincy — back then, it was a very different place, she said.
“I grew up here, it was the whitest town in the world,” she said. After returning about 20 years ago, she said Quincy has become “a fabulous melting pot. I love the cultural mix.”
She wants that tradition to grow, she said. Now McKee and Balsamo are planning to have a large contingent of residents at Tuesday’s meeting, at the Central Middle School auditorium, to show support for the shelter.
“We want a welcoming community,” Balsamo said.
At the Eastern Nazarene College campus in Quincy’s Wollaston neighborhood, students said Monday their school was right to shelter so many homeless families. The college said students of color make up 43 percent of its student body.