Will Homeless Living in Chelmsford Hotels Get Apartments?

CHELMSFORD, MA - Efforts are reportedly underway to move homeless persons staying in Chelmsford hotels into apartments or permanent housing, Wicked Local reported.

A state program had been putting up homeless persons in "temporary" hotel rooms but these living arrangements have persisted for longer than expected, according to Wicked Local.

The town of Chelmsford has changed its tactic from trying to crack down on housing homeless persons in local hotel rooms and will instead have the program "fade away," the Lowell Sun reported.

Chelmsford Board of Health Director Richard Day appeared at a Chelmsford selectmen meeting Tuesday and said it is now the responsibility of the state to "get them into housing," according to the Lowell Sun.

He described entire families crowded into relatively expensive single-family rooms, Wicked Local reported.

Day said nobody will be displaced under the new regulations, Wicked Local reported.

"The governor is clear on the fact that he’s not bumping anybody out of any place,” Day said, according to Wicked Local. "[The goal is] to find an apartment and rent that apartment for less money than we are spending to keep them in hotel rooms with inadequate facilities."