The city of Woburn is preparing to shelter nearly 100 migrant families next week.
Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency earlier this month due to the rising rate of migrant families needing shelter and services in Massachusetts. The state is already sheltering more than 20,000 people in state shelters and the expected arrival of hundreds of families in Woburn is the latest test for the state’s shelter system.
“Woburn’s a welcoming community, but there are going to be impacts and costs, particularly at the school level,” Woburn Mayor Scott Galvin told WCVB-TV. “[The state is] going to be helping us with those costs.”
Recently, the city has sheltered 10 migrant families. Last week, that number rose to 59. Galvin said that number is expected to jump yet again in the coming weeks.
The Sonesta Select, a hotel on Mishawum Road, is being turned into an emergency shelter to house migrant families, the station reported. Under the right-to-shelter law in Massachusetts, city and state officials are required to find housing for migrants.
New York and Washington, D.C., are the only two other states with similar laws.
Galvin said that Woburn is not the only community stepping up to provide shelter for migrants, according to WCVB-TV.
Galvin could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday morning.
In mid-July, The Republican newspaper of Springfield took an in-depth look at how motels and hotels in Greenfield, Chicopee and West Springfield were providing housing for 269 families.
Around the same time, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll announced that more than 70 communities across the state would become home to migrants and asylum seekers.
- Read more: Mayor Joshua Garcia: Holyoke is prepared for migrant influx, but state must ‘up its game’
The state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities has taken up the mantle of supporting hotels and migrant families as they settle into their new communities.
Churches in Woburn are collecting cash donations, baby formula and diapers, along with children’s clothing, according to WCVB-TV.
