Days after the Healey administration opened a new safety-net shelter in Cambridge, city and state officials will hold a community meeting as residents look for answers about the influx of migrants and homeless families seeking assistance in their neighborhood.
About 25 families have been directed to the Middlesex South Registry of Deeds building, a former courthouse in East Cambridge, since the shelter opened on Friday, Rep. Mike Connolly said Tuesday. The overflow shelter site can accommodate about 70 families and is expected to be open through the winter.
The Cambridge Democrat said he's fielded questions from residents about the lack of public input so far. In a blog post over the weekend, he acknowledged administration officials explored the site "confidentially" as they looked to meet their "legal mandate to provide shelter to the most vulnerable in our Commonwealth."
A virtual community meeting is now slated for Thursday evening with state and Cambridge officials, Connolly said, with the goal of getting residents on the "same page."
"There's been an overwhelming sense of support and interest in how people can show their support," Connolly told the News Service. "Some had wondered why there hadn't been a community meeting ahead of time — that's just the usual expectation. But of course, these aren't usual times. This is an emergency situation."
Connolly said he's received only a few emails expressing complaints about the shelter. Connolly said he's also had to dispel misconceptions about the legal status of migrants.
Facing crushing demand on the state's emergency shelter system, Gov. Maura Healey imposed a 7,500-family capacity limit this fall. As lawmakers approved Healey's supplemental budget request, including another $250 million for the shelter system, they required the administration to establish at one overflow shelter by Dec. 31 to unlock the money.
Connolly said the East Cambridge shelter complies with that requirement.
"This really speaks to what Speaker Mariano and Chair Michlewitz and all of us in the House really stood on — that we need to uphold our right-to-shelter-law," Connolly said, as he explained lawmakers' concerns about families ending up sleeping on the streets, at Logan Airport or in emergency rooms. "I think this an example of the administration really taking that mandate that originated with us in the House and fulfilling it in a way that will be better for these vulnerable families."
