Homeless Assistance

There is an increasing need for more affordable permanent housing in Newton and throughout the Boston region. The lack of existing affordable permanent housing has created a backlog in the emergency shelter and transitional housing system. Short-term residential facilities operate at capacity with extensive waiting lists because their residents have nowhere else to go. Until more units of affordable permanent housing, with or 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

In July 2009, the City of Newton received $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 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 gave the City the potential to provide much-needed assistance to people who are now homeless and need permanent housing or who are at-risk of losing their existing housing. The need proved so great that, by the beginning of May 2010, the entire amount of the grant had been committed to providing rent and utilities payments for people who were formerly homeless or whose tenancies were saved by the grant.

For more information regarding the City of Newton’s HPRP program, please contact Trisha Guditz at (617) 796-1156 or via email at tguditz@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 FY11, five programs have been funded:

Programs Funded CDBG Funds Awarded Target Population
Second Step - Case Manager for Transitional Residence $16,400 Survivors of domestic violence
REACH - Hotline Assistance and Support Groups $4,650 Survivors of domestic violence
Newton Community Service Centers - Parents Program $26,300 People at-risk of homelessness
Riverside Community Care - Outreach and Crisis Stabilization $5,200 Adolescents at-risk of homelessness
Riverside Community Care - Substance Abuse Treatment $21,500 People at-risk of homelessness

Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG)

Application forms are now available for six-month grants for emergency shelter programs serving people from Newton who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

The Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) program has been designed to be the first step in a continuum of assistance to prevent homelessness and to enable homeless individuals and families to move toward independent living. The existing ESG program will end June 30, 2012, as a result of revisions in the 2009 Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. Approximately $49,333 will be available for six-month Emergency Shelter Grants during the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2012 and ending June 30, 2012.

ESG funding may be used to help support any of the following:

    a. Shelter operation costs, such as maintenance, rent, repair, security, fuel, equipment, insurance, utilities, and furnishings. These costs may include direct service staff salaries.

    b. Provision of essential services, including services concerned with employment, physical health, mental health, substance abuse, education, food, or search and referral for permanent housing -- for people who are homeless, who have been determined to be at-risk of homelessness. These costs may include staff costs.

    c. Rent or utility subsidies for families who are facing eviction or termination of service because of inability to pay rent or utility bills; security deposits or first month’s rent to permit a homeless family to move into its own apartment; mediation services for landlord-tenant disputes; legal services for the representation of indigent tenants in eviction proceedings; or payments to prevent foreclosures.

    d. Renovation, major rehabilitation, or conversion of buildings for use as emergency shelters or transitional housing for the homeless. Grantees proposing to use funds for renovations must own the property or have a lease that gives them the right to renovate. In lease situations, describe the terms of the lease.

Applicants must meet all requirements, including a 50% cash or in-kind match for emergency shelter programs. Any eligible program is welcome to apply.

Grant application forms may be obtained by contacting the Housing and Community Development Division of the Department of Planning and Development, City of Newton, 1000 Commonwealth Ave, Newton, MA 02459. Please contact Anne Marie Belrose, Community Development Program Manager, at 617-552-1130, via email at abelrose@newtonma.gov or TDD/TTY at (617) (796-1089).

Applications for Emergency Shelter Grants are due to the Housing and Community Development Division of the Planning and Development Department no later than 5:00 p.m. December 28, 2011. The deadline for questions pertaining to Emergency Shelter Grant applications is Friday, December 23, 2011.

Continuum of Care

The City of Newton is part of the Brookline-Newton-Waltham-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-Waltham-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. These funds are awarded annually through an extensive, highly competitive application process. Agencies that receive funds contract directly with HUD.

Listed below are the agencies that were awarded funds during the FY10 funding round. For more information regarding the City of Newton’s homeless assistance programs, please contact Trisha Guditz at (617) 796-1156 or via email at tguditz@newtonma.gov.

Grantee Name Project Name Leasing Services Operations Admin Total
Pine Street Inn, Inc. 1043-45 Beacon Street Project 0 26,667 0 1,333 $28,000
Pine Street Inn, Inc. BREACH II 138,720 38,839 0 1,333 $177,559
Vinfen Corporation Dwight Street 0 28,719 8,236 0 $36,955
Brookline Community Mental Health Center Homeless Families Support Services Program 0 67,426 0 3,371 $70,797
Advocates, Inc Newton I SH 81,120 78,725 2,000 7,936 $169,781
Advocates, Inc Newton II SH 78,520 72,270 9,375 7,857 $168,022
The Second Step, Inc. Supportive Housing TSS 1 0 0 60,344 3,017 $63,361
The Second Step, Inc. Supportive Housing TSS 1 Afterschool 3,900 58,784 0 3,126 $65,810
The Second Step, Inc. Supportive Housing TSS 1 and Garfield House 0 75,320 14,725 4,000 $94,045
The Second Step, Inc. Supportive Housing TSS 11 0 154,840 51,326 10,308 $216,474
Brookline Community Mental Health Center Transition to Independent Living Program 11,250 104,120 0 5,768 $121,138
Advocates, Inc. Waltham Supportive Housing 27,456 46,660 5,801 3,943 $83,860
Advocates, Inc. Watertown SH 27,456 46,660 5,801 3,943 $83,860
CAN-DO/ Newton Community Service Center Young Parents House 0 12,616 0 0 $12,616
TOTAL $1,392,278