Mass. could take major step toward providing supportive housing

We applaud the Healey-Driscoll administration’s inclusion of a new model to provide flexible funding to streamline and expand supportive housing in the Commonwealth in the Affordable Homes Act (“Healey was elected to tackle housing. With big $4 billion bond bill, she confronts the challenge head on,” Editorial, Oct. 19).

We estimate that the Commonwealth needs to stably provide 4,000 households with supportive housing across the state by January 2027 as a major step toward ending chronic and high-need homelessness. A broad coalition of more than 80 housing advocates and providers, health care institutions, and nonprofit and philanthropic leaders supports this new public-private funding model, which has also been filed as legislation by state Representative Joan Meschino and state Senator Brendan P. Crighton.

The state administers and funds dozens of programs to support individuals, youth, and families who are high users of crisis services, including behavioral health, emergency room health care, shelters, and more. Currently, the burden is on housing providers, or even the residents who are in crisis themselves, to navigate funding from multiple state and federal housing, health care, and human services agencies and access the services to stabilize them.

The goal of this solution is to expand supportive housing and services for adults, youth, and families experiencing homelessness and enable funds to get out quickly and equitably to those who need it most. We look forward to partnering with the administration and our legislative champions to bring this model to Massachusetts.

BOB GIANNINO President and CEO United Way of Massachusetts Bay Boston