Over the weekend, Mayor Walsh announced that the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) has been awarded $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD.)
The funding will be used to help support and fund 139 vouchers for homeless families, chronically homeless individuals, and residents with disabilities. The program was awarded via the Mainstream Housing Choice Voucher Program, which allows residents with disabilities and their families to access affordable housing and other services.
Mayor Walsh said in a press release, “These vouchers will provide a much needed housing lifeline for some of our city’s most vulnerable families and individuals with disabilities while offering services that can help to foster a better quality of life.”
Walsh added that the new vouchers fulfill a promise to all our residents, including those with disabilities, that there will always be a home for them here in Boston.”
The press release stated that, “The new vouchers will be issued immediately to eligible homeless families referred to BHA through the state’s Leading the Way Home program and to chronically homeless individuals referred through the City of Boston’s Coordinated Access System.”
This is part of Mayor Walsh’s effort to end chronic homelessness and veteran homelessness, launched as the “Boston’s Way Home” and “Homes for the Brave” initiatives in 2014. Through these programs, over 880 chronically homeless individuals and over 1,170 homeless veterans have been housed, and chronic homelessness has been reduced by 19 percent across the city.
Earlier this year, Mayor Walsh and the BHA announced the insurance of 1,000 new rental housing vouchers from chronically homeless residents and their families. This brought the BHA portfolio of vouchers to 13,500.