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Address
Newton City Hall
1000 Commonwealth Ave
Newton Centre, MA 02459
617-796-1000
TDD/TTY 617-796-1089
Hours
Monday - Friday
8:30am-5:00pm
Tuesday
8:30am- 8:00pm
Homeless Assistance
There is tremendous need for more permanent affordable housing in Newton and throughout the Boston region. This unmet need has created a backlog in the emergency shelter and transitional housing system, and facilities operate at capacity with extensive waiting lists because their residents have nowhere else to go. Until more units of permanent affordable housing, with and without services, are produced to enable rapid re-housing of people who are homeless, it is anticipated that the backlog within the emergency shelter and transitional housing system will continue, and the need for operating assistance will remain.
Simultaneously, there is a growing need for homeless prevention assistance, particularly in the form of financial assistance with housing costs and legal assistance to prevent eviction. Short-term assistance to help families and individuals living on the brink of homelessness can prevent them from becoming homeless and entering the inundated shelter and transitional housing system.
The City of Newton is committed to assisting people who are homeless or are at-risk of homelessness and allocates funding from three U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grants to programs that address homelessness—Community Development Block Grant, Emergency Shelter Grant and Continuum of Care. In addition to the resources listed above, the City will receive $923,339 in Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program.
Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program
The City of Newton is to receive $923,339 for the national “Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP)” under Title XII of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, known to many as the stimulus bill. The money will be available for use over the next three years. The purpose of HPRP is to provide financial assistance and services to either prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless or to help those individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness to be quickly re-housed and stabilized.
The program has the potential to be a real help to local providers who are serving people who are now homeless and need permanent housing or who are at-risk of losing their existing housing. The City is required to amend its Annual Action Plan for 2009 and submit the amendment to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by May 18, 2009. A Public Hearing before the Planning and Development Board on the Amendment to the FY09 Annual Action Plan is scheduled for Monday, April 27, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers of Newton City Hall.
On Wednesday, May 15, 2009, the City to issued a Request for Proposals to solicit applications for the use of the HPRP funds. A bidder’s conference will be held on Wednesday, May 20, 2009, at 3 p.m., in Room 202 to review the RPF and answer questions. For more information regarding the City of Newton’s HPRP allocation or to receive a copy of the RFP, please contact Amy Yuhasz at (617) 796-1122 or via email at ayuhasz@newtonma.gov.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
Newton allocates a portion of the annual Community Development Block Grant funding it receives from HUD to programs that address homelessness. These programs are funded through the 15 percent of the City’s CDBG grant that is allocated to human service programs. For FY09, five programs have been funded:
Programs Funded |
CDBG Funds Awarded |
Target |
Second Step – Case Manager for Transitional Residence |
$17,017 |
Survivors of domestic violence |
REACH – Hotline Assistance and Support Groups |
$4,255 |
Survivors of domestic violence |
Newton Community Service Centers – Parents Program |
$23,402 |
People |
Riverside Community Care – Outreach and Crisis Stabilization |
$5,105 |
Adolescents |
Riverside Community Care – Substance Abuse Treatment |
$20,423 |
People |
TOTAL |
$70,202 |
|
Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG)
Emergency Shelter Grant funds are one of two sources of federal funding the City receives that are directed solely towards assisting people who are homeless or are threatened with homelessness. ESG grants can be used for facility operating costs (rent, maintenance, utilities or insurance), the rehabilitation or conversion of buildings into homeless shelters, the provision of essential shelter services and/or the prevention of homelessness. The City of Newton’s ESG grant has ranged from $91,000 to $100,081 over the past several years, and the City received $99,264 for FY09.
Grants are awarded to nonprofit agencies through an open grant application process. Each fall, Newton Housing and Community Development Program staff issues a notice of availability of ESG funds for the following fiscal year. Grant applications from homeless shelters, transitional housing programs or homeless prevention programs are screened by the Human Service Advisory Committee (HSAC), a citizen advisory group. Grants are awarded to the agencies that demonstrate an outstanding capacity to meet documented needs. The table below details the agencies and programs that were selected for funding during FY09, the amount allocated to each program and the proposed number of homeless or at-risk people served:
Agency/Program |
Amount |
Brookline Community Mental Health Center |
$2,500 |
CAN-DO |
$3,000 |
Middlesex Human Service Agency |
$11,000 |
Middlesex Human Service Agency |
$11,000 |
REACH |
$18,000 |
Riverside Community Care |
$10,500 |
The Horace Cousens Industrial Fund |
$17,000 |
The Second Step |
$26,264 |
TOTAL |
$99,264 |
Continuum of Care
The City of Newton is part of the Brookline-Newton-Watertown Continuum of Care, one of 23 Continuums in Massachusetts formed as a result of HUD’s annual competitive application process for Continuum of Care funds. These Continuums are made up of the geographic area of one or more contiguous cities and/or towns. The purpose of forming these continuums is to bring communities together in a coordinated planning effort to work towards alleviating homelessness.
Within the Brookline-Newton-Watertown Continuum of Care geographic area, the entity that meets regularly to carryout this goal is the Homelessness Consortium. The Homelessness Consortium, which was formed in the mid-1990s, is composed of representatives of nonprofit organizations, municipal government, state agencies, businesses and religious organizations, as well as homeless and formerly homeless people. As the lead entity of the Consortium, Newton Housing and Community Development staff coordinates the annual application for HUD Continuum of Care, which are awarded annually through an extensive, highly competitive application process. Agencies that receive funds contract directly with HUD.
During FY08, $1,130,802 was awarded for twelve programs in the Brookline, Newton and Watertown Continuum of Care that provide housing and supportive services for homeless or formerly homeless people. In Newton, the Second Step program received $439,673, enabling them to continue to operate two transitional housing programs and provide supportive services to families recovering from domestic violence. Advocates, Inc. received $337,803 to provide housing with services to twelve homeless adults with disabilities. Citizens for Affordable Housing in Newton Development Organization (CAN-DO) and Newton Community Service Center partnered to receive $12,616 in project renewal funds to continue providing supportive services to five families living in transitional housing units at the Kayla A. Rosenberg House.
For more information regarding the City of Newton’s homeless assistance programs, please contact Amy Yuhasz at (617) 796-1122 or via email at ayuhasz@newtonma.gov.