Children and their parents are being forced into homelessness because of the high cost of living, medical emergencies and lost work hours or jobs.

At FamilyAid, we believe the best way to end homelessness is to prevent it from happening in the first place.

We work with the Boston Public Schools and Boston Children’s Hospital to provide early intervention supports for children and their families who are at high risk of becoming homeless. Once the schools or hospital identify a family in need, FamilyAid steps in with expert resources, navigators and case support to prevent families from being evicted.

FamilyAid’s Homelessness Prevention Program provides one-time emergency financial assistance to keep children and their parents in their homes. On average, $3,500 is all that is needed to keep a family in their homes and avoid the childhood trauma associated with homelessness. In comparison, the average cost for a family to live in a shelter for one year is $36,000.

This means for the cost of temporarily housing one family in shelter, we can help more than 30 children and parents avoid homelessness.

Families work with our compassionate professionals on budgeting, obtaining stable jobs and connecting their children with the resources they need to thrive.

Our Homelessness Prevention Program is among the most successful in the country, with 90% of the families who receive assistance from FamilyAid remaining in stable housing one year after leaving shelter.