Really, more like a fantasy, as this will never happen. But since this is the time of year when we celebrate a holiday with religious roots that supposedly champions goodwill toward our fellow man (all sarcasm intended), I am going to bring my fantasy to light.
In 1983, in a gust of goodwill, Massachusetts passed a “right to shelter” law, guaranteeing all homeless families with children and pregnant women access to temporary housing. Forty years later, Massachusetts is the only state with such a law. In 2021 the state spent about $180 million housing homeless families. During the recent, unprecedented, surge of both documented and undocumented immigrants, the system collapsed. Annual costs ballooned to $1 billion. Money that kept folks sheltered in the short term did nothing to address the underlying discrepancy between a law that offered protection for all families and a state that already suffers from limited, expensive housing. Last July Governor Maura Healey truncated the law’s provisions (how I do not understand—I am not an attorney) and limited family stays to no more than five days in a state-sponsored shelter.
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Central Square, yet another mainstream Protestant church with an extensive physical plant and shrinking congregation, decided to do something to address the state’s shortcomings. They curtained off portions of their community space and created space for three families to stay overnight, every night, from 5 p.m. until 9 a.m. The families have access to cooking facilities; they can stay as long as they need.
When this mini-shelter opened, the church solicited volunteers to stay overnight with its immigrant guests. I spent a few weeknights hanging out with families originally from Ghana and Haiti, sleeping on a floor mattress, reminding me of so many couchsurfing gigs I’ve enjoyed during bicycle journeys. Now that the families are acclimated, they are sufficient to spend overnight on their own, though volunteers still come every evening to open up and make sure things run smoothly.
Churches are supposed to be charitable organizations. The state forfeits millions of dollars of taxes by granting non-profit status to their valuable properties. What does the state get in return? How about we make the churches practice what they preach. Let them shelter those in need.
Mass.gov purports that there are over 2,000 churches mosques, synagogues, and other places of worship within our state. In July, when Governor Healy curtailed the state’s shelter responsibility, there were 3,534 families in stat sponsored shelters and 1,405 families in overflow motels. About a third of these homeless families were recent arrivals. If each church adopted three immigrant families, we could provide temporary housing for over 6,000 homeless families. Q.E.D.
And, with some forethought, we could reallocate that $1 billion to creating desperately needed housing to address our long-term needs.
In this season where darkness turns to light, let us remind our religious institutions that they have to live up to the human responsibility they preach. Let them earn their charitable status by offering charity, and sheltering homeless families in our state.
The Awkward Pose 