About Family Homelessness. Since Circle of Hope’s inception in 2008, family homelessness has risen faster in Massachusetts than nearly any other state. More than 3,000 families are homeless statewide. Many of Circle of Hope’s partner family shelters are at capacity, with more new families seeking help every week.
The state’s high rate of family homelessness is due in large part to the high cost of housing and stagnant wages. Massachusetts is the third most expensive state for renters; to afford a two-bedroom apartment, one needs to earn an hourly wage of $33.81. The minimum wage in Massachusetts is currently $14.25. Massachusetts also has the most expensive childcare in the country, making it even more difficult for low-income families with young children to get by. The average family experiencing homelessness in MA includes a single mother with two young kids. And people of color experience homelessness at disproportionate rates due to a long history of housing discrimination and systemic racism.
Families experiencing homelessness in MA are housed in four types of emergency shelter: congregate shelters, scattered site shelters, co-shelters, and hotels/motels. Most of Circle of Hope’s partner shelters are congregate emergency shelters, which house multiple individuals or families in one building. In 2022, we also began serving families in scattered site shelters, a type of emergency shelter consisting of individual apartment units where families live temporarily. Families stay in shelter for six months to a year, on average.
Our Growth. Over the past 14 years, Circle of Hope has grown to keep pace with the increase in family homelessness. As Boston family shelters overflowed in 2016, we expanded into MetroWest to continue serving families who were being relocated to suburban shelters. We partnered with Clinton House Family Shelter and Pearl Street Family Shelter, both operated by South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC), to serve 20 families experiencing homelessness at a time. In 2022, our SMOC partnership grew when we began serving another 120 families in scattered site shelters throughout MetroWest. No other organization or agency is meeting their most basic needs for vital clothing, hygiene supplies and other health necessities.
This year, we expanded our Emergency Response Program to meet the increasing needs of families in immediate crisis. With a full stock of emergency clothing kits, packaged by size and gender identity, we stand ready to answer every urgent call for help from our partner programs. Already this fall, Circle of Hope responded to multiple requests to help families with urgent, time-sensitive needs, including a pregnant mom at Pearl Street Family Shelter with her infant and toddler sons, a mother and five children at Bowdoin Street Health Center who lost their home in a fire, and seven women in SMOC scattered site shelters with high-risk pregnancies.
Your Impact. Last year, you helped provide seasonally appropriate clothing, shoes, linens, and hygiene essentials to nearly 25,000 people, including 3,400 children and 1,100 infants. You shared warmth, protected dignity, and improved health for thousands of people experiencing homelessness. You helped new moms recover and confidently care for their newborns during the fragile postpartum period. You gave babies experiencing homelessness a safe place to sleep in shelter. You gave parents the essentials they needed to keep their children safe and healthy throughout the school day and helped kids get the education they deserve. You gave newly arrived families the coats and accessories they needed to face their first New England winter.
Please donate to our Annual Campaign to help us continue answering every urgent call for help. We can’t thank you enough for your support.
