Massachusetts Housing And Shelter Alliance Inc

Permanent supporting housing and diversion - during fiscal year 2024, the program helped fund, in partnership with community-based service organizations and landlords, 1,315 units of permanent supportive housing and leases for formerly homeless individuals across the state. These services are delivered in every region of the state and are the programmatic basis for the organization's cost-benefit analysis and increasingly recognized outcome-focused data studies. The program provides clients with permanent housing, meals, transportation, case management, income-related referrals and public benefits access, housing search and other services focused primarily on helping individuals to access and sustain permanent housing. The program includes substantially all contracts not mentioned in any of the other major service categories.

During fiscal year 2023, mash entered into a $15 million contract with the commonwealth of massachusetts to award subrecipient grants to expand the development of permanent supportive housing ("psh") units and address the public health emergency of homelessness, exacerbated by covid-19, due to densely populated congregate shelters and growing encampments of unsheltered individuals. The majority of subrecipients will receive grants to create 243 new psh units in the commonwealth, while others are receiving funds utilized to provide technical assistance and educational opportunities to emerging and existing developers to increase the number and diversity of supportive housing developers in the commonwealth.

Advocacy, planning and technical assistance - provides a forum in the commonwealth of massachusetts for the planning and coordination of policy, community and stakeholder education and communication of issues, and the piloting and implementation of housing and services for homeless individuals. Programs and advocacy are designed to end the commonwealth's reliance on emergency services for homeless individuals. The organization conducts site visits and program reviews to share best practices, provide technical assistance, and strive to create a network of resources and collaborative service providers. The organization conducts advocacy and planning to ensure that the state reduces its reliance on emergency services and focuses its efforts on permanent housing as a solution to homelessness.