Massachusetts’ Residents Asked to House Haitian Migrants in Their Spare Bedrooms

Massachusetts is facing a significant migrant crisis with a sudden surge of Haitian migrants heading to the state. Local authorities are frantically searching for housing solutions to accommodate them. State-funded shelters are quickly reaching capacity, prompting the Massachusetts government to appeal to local residents for assistance by offering a spare room or apartment until more permanent accommodations can be arranged.

These hosts will not receive financial compensation from the state for providing shelter to the homeless migrants, but they will receive gift cards, groceries, and baby formula to aid in supporting the individuals residing in their homes.

From WBUR:

Geralde Gabeau, the executive director of the Immigrant Family Services Institute or IFSI, said she supports this strategy “because of the nature of the crisis and because we’re talking about families with children.” But, she said, she would like to see more details about how the program is being operated.

“While the state is trying to figure out exactly what to do and [how] to open up more shelters, I think we — as citizens, as members of our community — we also need to play a role,” Gabeau said.

A confluence of crises, including the high cost of housing, the end of pandemic eviction protections and the arrival of migrant families, have pushed the existing state-run family shelter system to capacity. Experts estimate hundreds of families are moving to Massachusetts each week in need of housing. Gabeau said IFSI, which serves a large number of Haitians, sees about 40 newly arrived families each day.

The demand for family shelter “is reaching levels we haven’t seen previously,” said the homeless coalition's Turley. Roughly 4,800 households are in the state’s family shelter system, called Emergency Assistance shelter. That includes nearly 1,000 new overflow hotel and motel placements since the beginning of 2023.

A particular challenge for newly homeless families in Massachusetts can be where to stay the first few nights. Applying for the state’s family shelter system can take days or longer, and during that time, families sometimes have nowhere to stay overnight.

 

It will be interesting to see how many residents of Massachusetts will genuinely open their doors to these migrants.

While many individuals profess support for migrants in theory, the real test lies in whether they will actually offer a space in their own homes to these virtual strangers.

I guess only time will tell...