Housing the Homeless Hinges on Landlords
A recent spate of federal, state and city housing vouchers can help stem the rising tide of family homelessness, but not without landlords and apartments.
Since the pandemic started, FamilyAid has housed a record 1,700 homeless children and parents , largely through our partnership with the Boston Public Schools, the Boston Housing Authority and the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development.
Families enrolled in that program have received time-limited federal housing vouchers that expire within 120 days if we cannot find a willing landlord to accept them. Right now, more than 1,200 children and parents are still waiting to find a home.
“There are simply not enough landlords and apartments on city and state lists to meet the need,” says FamilyAid COO, Annie Marcklinger Gordon. Annie serves on the both the BPS/BHA/FAB Partnership leadership team and the city’s Housing and Stabilization Leadership Committee, a group of government and community leaders working to increase housing options for the homeless. “We’re bringing these groups together as we race against the clock to find apartments for a growing number of families facing homelessness,” says Marcklinger Gordon. “For landlords who are struggling from the economic slowdown, housing subsidies are guaranteed market price income.”
The partnership has developed incentives to help landlords – accustomed to renting to college students with parents willing to pay full rent – to instead consider accepting families with vouchers. The incentives include additional months’ rent, brokers fees and tenant support from FamilyAid and other service providers.
While agency and city leaders work to engage landlords, FamilyAid housing staff continue to find homes for families like Brianna, Jaxon and Jade.
“Our goal is to bring families home,” says Judith Cohen a longtime FamilyAid housing and advocacy specialist. “When families enter their permanent home for the first time, they are still trying to wrap their head around the fact that they have progressed from living in the shadows, doubled up with family members or friends, to having a stable apartment of their own. They are happy, amazed, and relieved that they now have a place to call home!”
If you or someone you know is a landlord looking for guaranteed rental income, or a Boston residential real estate broker interested in helping find apartments for children and their parents, please contact us at 857-239-5465 or email landlords@familyaidboston.org.
