Families In Marlborough Hotel Shelter Transferring In April: MPS

MARLBOROUGH, MA — More than two dozen families living in a Marlborough hotel as part of the state's emergency shelter program will be transferred to a different location, leaving just one extended stay shelter in the city.

Last July, Marlborough was home to about 86 families, a combination of Haitian migrants and homeless residents. According to Marlborough Superintendent Mary Murphy, 29 families will be transferred out of a local hotel next week.

The homeless and migrant families living in emergency shelters in Marlborough are among the thousands the state has accepted amid a wide crisis. There are over 7,500 families sheltering here under the state Right to Shelter law that covers families and pregnant people.

Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency in August over the crisis, and called up the National Guard to oversee the emergency shelter system. Healey last week filed a supplemental state budget seeking $825 million to fund the system, which costs about $10,000 per family per month.

According to Murphy, the 29 Marlborough families will be transferred by April 4. The children from those families who attend Marlborough schools can choose to stay, or transfer to a new school system, Murphy wrote in a memo to the school committee.

As of the city's last update in August, 55 families were sheltering at one city hotel with 26 school-age students, and 31 families with 20 school-age students were sheltering at a separate hotel.

According to Mayor Christian Dumais' office, the larger shelter in Marlborough is serving about 500 people total, but the population fluctuates. The families transferring out of Marlborough will go to a hotel in Framingham.