The Knights Inn in Hadley is providing shelter for nine families as part of the Massachusetts emergency shelter system — which is nearing capacity and a cap is set to go into effect on Nov. 1.
In total, there are 34 people are being housed at the Route 9 hotel, a mix of unhoused people from Massachusetts and new arrivals to the state, according to statements from the Town of Hadley and the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
Hadley officials were notified two weeks ago that the Knights Inn would be designated as a supplemental shelter for the state’s emergency shelter program that houses homeless and migrant families under the 1983 “right to shelter” law, according to a statement by Hadley Town Administrator Carolyn Brennan’s office.
“There were some single moms, there’s babies, young children,” Brennan told Western Mass News. “We really had to do an assessment of the needs. There were prescriptions that needed to be filled. There were daycare issues, transportation issues, food issues.”
Brennan could not be reached for direct comment on Wednesday.
The law provides shelter to eligible families and pregnant individuals who are facing a housing crisis. Since August 2022, the emergency shelter system has expanded each month to meet an increased need.
As of Oct. 24, there are 7,202 families in the emergency family shelter system. Nearly half of the current shelter population are new arrivals to the state, according to the state’s housing office. About half of the family shelter population are children.
Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll warned last week that the state’s emergency shelter system is nearing capacity and that starting Nov. 1 families wishing to seek emergency housing will be placed on a waitlist.
The two factors that have led to an increased need for family shelter are the high cost and limited availability of housing in the state and an influx of new arrivals to Massachusetts fleeing violence and instability in their home countries, according to the state’s housing office.
Hadley town officials pulled together a task force to establish a way to provide “basic needs, ensure that families were cared for and that the town had a holistic understanding of how to prepare to meet those needs,” according to the town’s statement.
It’s unclear how many of the residents sheltered at the Hadley hotel were migrants or unhoused people originally from Massachusetts.
Members of the town’s public safety, board of health, building commissioner, superintendent of schools and town administrator gathered to form a communication strategy and identify resources.
The Hadley Police Department met with the National Guard to learn about potential “stress points and concerns shared by other supplemental shelters in the state,” according to Brennan’s office.
The school superintendent met with the families to schedule an orientation for the recently sheltered children.
Brennan’s office wrote that there are no direct costs for Hadley at the moment associated with the housing of the families and that departments will keep track of any expenditures.
“It is anticipated that the governor will release funds to reimburse municipalities for their expenses,” Brennan’s office stated.
In order to qualify for emergency family shelter assistance, families must be in the country with the “knowledge and consent” of federal immigration authorities, according to the state’s housing office.
Non-citizens eligible for emergency shelter are either living with someone who is a U.S. citizen, a non-citizen lawfully admitted for permanent residence, or a person with permission by the Department of Homeland Security to reside in the country — such as migrants with pending asylum applications.
