Agencies Band Together to Address Local Housing
Rising Costs Make Things “Grim” for Many Families
– Allison Goldsberry
Greater Boston is one of the nation’s most expensive places to call home, and rising fuel costs and the threat of foreclosure are creating a “grim” situation for many local families, according to Housing Families Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer, Judy Perlman.
Perlman is calling for a meeting of several local agencies to address the problem of getting resources such as fuel assistance and housing-retention money to families at risk.
Perlman said city officials have had a difficult time in keeping track of changing public resources available and where to direct callers that are looking for help.
“My hope is that together we can reach more people and provide more effective help by sharing information and improving communication among concerned public and private agencies,” wrote Perlman in an email.
Perlman said families Greater Boston communities with an aging housing stock and a growing immigrant population, such as Medford, Malden, Everett, Arlington, and Melrose, are particularly vulnerable at this time for evictions and foreclosures.
Perlman has invited state and local officials, non-profits, and other agencies to come together for a meeting on January 7, 2008, including Medford’s Affordable Housing Specialist Erica Schwarz. The meeting is at 10AM at the Cambridge Health Alliance’s Family Medicine Center at 195 Canal Street in Malden.
The meeting will focus on what resources are available to help families in need of fuel assistance and utility discounts, how those resources can be increased, and what can be done to help more families in need.
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Information from Housing Families Inc.