Issue of Homelessness Discussed at Legislative Breakfast CHICOPEE, Mass. (WGGB) — Teaming up to tackle the issue of homelessness in the community. This morning, more than a dozen legislators met with representatives from local non-profits to address the problem and take steps toward a solution. Last week, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno made it abundantly clear. He’s not happy with how the state is housing the homeless. “I cant say what I want to say because I’m on camera,” he said. State legislators agree. Massachusetts needs to do better when it comes to the issue of homelessness. At this morning’s annual Human Service Forum in Chicopee, they said they’re ready to get to work. “I named a special Senate committee on housing, and the intention is to travel across the state as we did last term. This special committee is going to look at housing and we’re going to look at the whole continuum from homelessness to lack of affordable housing, for both low income workers and moderate income workers,” says Mass. Senate President Sen. Stan Rosenberg. People have a right to shelter in Massachusetts, meaning the state is obligated to give homeless families a place to live. The goal is to get them into long term housing, instead of temporary housing in hotels and motels, but as pointed out by Mayor Sarno last week, there are still quite a few kinks to iron out. “The reality is moving all of one population into one area of one neighborhood, one block, to me is not the best way to address the situation, but I do think moving families out of hotels and into more permanent housing is a step in the right direction,” explains Sen. James Welch from West Springfield. In fact, legislators say some of the organizations at today’s forum offer viable blueprints Rosenberg adds, “There are some very successful programs operating. In fact, right here in western Massachusetts that are helping people stay in their homes and not become homeless by working with them and making sure they have adequate income from a job and adequate support services, so they they don’t find themselves leaving a comfortable home for a motel or a shelter.” More than 300 representatives from several western Mass. non-profit organizations attended this morning’s forum. The goal is to provide legislators with valuable feedback and help them craft effective policies.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 23:29:40 +0000
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