State rep. urges homeless hotel owners to sign contract BOSTON (WWLP) – Homeless hotels were supposed to be a temporary solution, but it has turned into quite an ongoing and expensive problem. One state representative believes hotel owners should take some of the blame. Holyoke Democrat Aaron Vega considers it a cruel and unusual punishment – homeless families living in hotels and motels with limited or no transportation and no place to cook. The state spent $15 million housing families in homeless hotels in fiscal 2014, and as of today, more than 1,800 families continue to live in them. Rep. Vega believes hotel and motel owners should be required to sign state contracts that give them more responsibility than just providing a room. “The only people benefiting from this program are the hotel owners. It’s not the people in these hotels; it’s definitely not the community. They should be held accountable from getting these state contracts to providing something back,” said Rep. Vega. Vega suggests requiring hotel and motel owners to provide a safe place for families to cook, and transportation so people can look for jobs. There also needs to be a legislative effort. State lawmakers would have to dedicate more funding for housing vouchers so families can phase out of these expensive and inadequate shelters. There are currently 190 families living in homeless hotels in Holyoke, 160 in Chicopee and 76 in Greenfield.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 22:37:11 +0000
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