The scene at St. Francis House in downtown Boston reveals a close to 600 individuals experiencing homelessness flock to this refuge daily, seeking essentials from food to pathways out of their current plight. Karen LaFrazia, the CEO of St. Francis House, shared with the Boston Herald that the shelter is experiencing the largest attendance on record, correlating with a city struggling against rising rents and a snail-paced affordable housing supply.
Individuals packed the premises of St. Francis House, where, according to LaFrazia, there's not even a chair to spare upstairs. She told the Boston Herald, “In this back room, literally you have to step over people. In the upstairs room, there are no chairs. … In the morning, we open at 6:30, there’s already a line of people waiting to come in.”
Boston's struggle with homelessness has risen by 17.2% in just one year, represented by the city’s homeless population increasing from 4,439 in 2022 to 5,202 in 2023, as per the city's 43rd annual unsheltered homeless street count. However, the data also points to a broader picture where, comparing the data of 2015 and 2023, homelessness has seen a decrease of 32 percent. Additionally, an influx of migrant families seeking shelter has led to a 17.5% hike in the number of persons in homeless families, climbing from 2,894 in 2022 to 3,399 in 2023, as reported by the same count.
LaFrazia speaks of a 19-story, 126-unit affordable housing building in the pipeline, scheduled to break ground by the late spring, found on St. Francis House's website. Gov. Maura Healey and state legislators are also tackling the issue head-on. A $4 billion bond bill to boost affordable housing production and home ownership was released by Healey’s administration in October. This bold step includes a significant $425 million dedicated to a housing stabilization and investment fund. LaFrazia, stating: "More needs to be done," according to the interview with the Boston Herald.
