BOSTON — Some migrant children innocently played outside of Gov. Maura Healey’s office Thursday afternoon, while others clung to their mothers in the thick of a boisterous rally calling on the governor to repeal her controversial shelter policy that activists say is forcing homeless individuals to sleep on the streets.
Through a multilingual blend of songs, chants and speeches, more than 50 migrants and homelessness prevention activists urged Healey to reverse a rule that limits family stays in overflow sites to five business days.
After that, families are barred from staying at more traditional emergency assistance family shelters for at least six months, under a rule that took effect last month as the Healey administration deals with soaring costs associated with sheltering newly arriving migrant families and Bay Staters who are experiencing homelessness.
“We understand that there aren’t unlimited funds, but we ask the governor and state officials to sit down and talk to families on the front lines, to talk to the faith communities, to talk with the providers and advocates because we can do better,” Kelly Turley, associate director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, said at the rally, as she invoked the state’s right-to-shelter law.
“We can do better by families and children,” Turley continued. “We’ve done it for over 40 years, and we can keep doing it.”
Constituent services staffers for Healey stood outside the executive suite, which was cordoned off, during the rally. Healey was in Lowell Thursday morning for a child care event, and has a meeting scheduled at the Statehouse later in the afternoon.
Spokespeople for Healey did not immediately respond to News Service questions about the rally, including whether the governor is willing to revise the five-day policy.
Ronel Remy, an organizer with City Life/Vida Urbana, led the crowd in chants such as “Gov. Healey, feel the heat; keep the children off the streets” and “Gov. Healey, be humane; don’t leave people in the rain.”
Participants held up posters that read, “Putting children on the street is not a solution,” “Keep Families Housed!” and “5 NIGHTS then homeless Not O.K.,” among other messages. They delivered a letter for Healey, and after the demonstration fanned out throughout the building to give copies to other lawmakers, including House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka.
The letter asks Healey and the Legislature to “take immediate action to reverse the Administration’s new policy to restrict access to Emergency Assistance (EA) family shelters and and overflow shelters (“Temporary Respite Centers.”).
It adds, “Five days is not enough time for families to find housing or alternative temporary options, and the six-month bar on accessing shelter is leaving children and families in extremely precarious situations.”
Pastor Don Nanstad, of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in East Boston, said most of the Haitian migrants at the rally are currently staying at the church. He said pews have been pushed aside to make sleeping space for 14 families, or roughly 40 individuals.
“There’s more of them sheltered in the church than we have members of this tiny church,” Nanstad said. “Gov. Healey, she has to feel a lot of pressure at this moment with dollars for the budget, but that is not to be compared with the pressure that all of these people face every day.”
Wesley Jean, a Haitian migrant who brought his six-year-old daughter to the rally, said he’s been staying at the church after learning about the temporary aid from friends. Jean said he’s waiting on the state to process his applications for more stable shelter options, with his situation made more urgent by his pregnant wife.
“I feel like I’ve been treated like an animal,” Jean said through Remy translating. “I have my wife who’s expecting. She’s throwing up in the streets, in train station(s), and I have my daughter sleeping in the street with me. That’s not the kind of life I want for them.”
Nanstad called the shelter crisis an “emergency for the governor.”
“And when there’s an emergency, that is the time to see what mettle, what courage and backbone you have in your leader,” he said.
Turley said there will be more demonstrations at the State House and throughout Massachusetts ahead of Election Day in November.
“We want the governor and the Legislature to know that we’re not here against you — we’re here to work with you,” Turley said.
“We are calling on the state to use the resources that are available to do the right thing, ensure that children and families are not sleeping in cars, train stations, bus stations, in hospital emergency rooms, in other places not meant for human habitation.”