Homelessness, and the closely related housing crisis, is an issue that affects over 500,000 Americans every night. Massachusetts is no exception, seeing a decade-long rise in homelessness that has affected 18,000 of its citizens. The Boston area unfortuneetly exempifies this trend.

We aim to encourage policy that will eradicate homelessness in and around the Boston area. Doing so will involve tackling many issues, such as recognizing and counteracting gentrification, tackling the historical impact that redlining has had in the Boston area, providing adequate mental and physical health resources to the homeless population, asserting their dignity as a human and their equal access to resources all Bostonians should have, supporting the creation of affordable housing units that don’t exist, and advocating for fair pricing of units that do exist.

​

We aim to get at the heart of the problem through policy that supports the community rather than criminalizing it. That looks like defunding our bloated police departments to focus on social services. It looks like understanding and destigmatizing both mental health issues and addiction, and meeting those needs in a kind and compassionate manner. And finally, it looks like offering financial support and job training to commit to permanently end the cycle of poverty. 

No one solution will result in homelessness being eradicated in a day, but through legislative action and the support of the community we can move towards a day where every Bostonian has a home