Homelessness has been on the rise for several years and Massachusetts is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis as housing and childcare costs remain prohibitively high for many families. Thousands of people are also arriving in MA seeking safer lives for their families and are legally unable to work and earn income for extended periods of time. Circle of Hope's partner shelters are beyond capacity and we have a waitlist for new partnerships as requests come in every week.
Along with our 25 partner programs, Circle of Hope has already risen to the challenge of responding to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Massachusetts, providing clothing and hygiene essentials to more people than ever before in 2023. As our partners doubled and tripled their requests for donations last year, Circle of Hope responded to every urgent call for help within 48 hours. We helped more than 26,000 people on their road to recovery from trauma.
Already in 2024, we have made four emergency deliveries to migrant families staying at the new Cass Center emergency shelter in Roxbury. Many of these families include infants, pregnant women, and children attending Boston Public Schools without basic necessities for health and dignity. We have provided seasonally appropriate clothing and coats to families arriving from warmer climates, hygiene essentials to children so they can attend school comfortably and confidently, and infant essentials to pregnant and postpartum moms with newborns in shelter. We are working closely with Boston city officials, Boston Public Schools, and our existing partner programs to meet the exact needs of these families.
In March, we launched a new pilot partnership with the Eliot Community Human Services MSPCC Early Arrival Program to serve 60 women in shelter in Revere who recently migrated to MA in their late stages of pregnancy. 95% of these women fled violence in Haiti seeking a safer life for themselves and their new babies. They arrived in MA with very few belongings of their own and nothing for their newborns. Circle of Hope is providing Welcome Baby Bags and infant essentials to the babies as well as maternity and postpartum items to the new moms.
As our waiting list for new partnerships grows, we are launching a Crisis Response Fund to enable us to form new partnerships while continuing to deeply serve our existing partners. To learn more about our Crisis Response Fund and make a donation, please click here.
