Community Ask: Migrants Seeking Aid
From Rep. Dave Rogers’ newsletter:
The following information was provided to me by Judy Wolberg of Belmont. I want to thank her for her commitment to helping migrants.
On August 1, the Healey-Driscoll Administration enacted a major change to Massachusetts’ Emergency Assistance (EA) shelter system for families needing EA shelter. This has had an immediate and devastating impact on arriving migrant and refugee families. Families eligible for EA shelter and on the waitlist will now have to decide if they want to enter a Temporary Respite Center for five business days, with a week’s extension in some circumstances, or stay on an EA Contact List (waitlist).
In this context, host families are crucial. They provide essential respite for families, allowing families to connect with necessary resources and benefits without affecting their position on the EA housing waitlist. Hosting for any length of time, even a few nights, is hugely helpful.
Each night, there are refugee families who do not have a safe place to sleep. These families are being supported as best they can by volunteers and community groups. We invite all to consider what we each can do at this moment.
There is an urgent need for volunteers on the ground in Quincy and in Allston as well as other locations where folks are temporarily housed. Please fill out this form if you can help. Feel free to share this form with others.
You can donate via Venmo to @WelcomeGrant to help with food, car seats, hotel rooms, transit, and more.
If you are able to serve as a host family, whether it be one night, weeks, or months, all is incredibly impactful. Please carefully read this FAQ document which includes a link to the host application form. Hosts are vetted and coordinated by the Brazilian Workers Center.
Perhaps you might not be able to host at the moment, but you could offer support to those in your network who do.
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