Hundreds Of MA National Guard Members Called Up To Staff Family Shelters

MASSACHUSETTS — Gov. Maura Healey is calling up 250 National Guard members to staff the Massachusetts emergency shelter system, which is at a crisis point due to a steep increase in homeless and refugee families in the state.

The National Guard members will be sent to hotels across the state that are being used as temporary shelters for families. There are about 6,000 families in the emergency shelter system, and over 1,500 in hotels alone, according to a state census.

The guard members will be providing a key service for families entering the shelter system. Some families are being placed by the state in hotels with no resources — including basics like toiletries and clothes — leaving local cities and towns to hold fundraisers.

"While we work to implement a more permanent staffing solution, the National Guard will provide an efficient and effective means of delivering these services and keeping everybody safe," Healey said in a news release Thursday.

Healey in early August declared a state of emergency related to the shelter system. In declaring the state of emergency, Healey said she would gain the ability to use the National Guard.

Massachusetts is the only state in the U.S. with a law requiring the state to shelter families, which includes pregnant women and couples with one or more children. With regular shelter beds in short supply, the state has been placing families in hotels, sometimes to the surprise of local cities and towns — as seen recently in Framingham, Marlborough and Shrewsbury.

Massachusetts is also in the midst of a housing crisis due to a shortage of affordable units. The state ranked No. 41 in the nation for housing production last year according to the research site Construction Coverage. The state has also seen an influx of Haitian refugees fleeing a nation that has been torn apart by natural disasters, violence and political instability.

The National Guard members will begin arriving at hotel shelters next week, state officials said. They will coordinate logistics around transportation, enrolling children in school and distributing food, clothing and other necessities.