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MARCH 25, 2020 I COVID 19 UPDATE http://mahomeless.org/ advocacy/item/coronavirus UPDATES RAFT The Residential Assistance for Families in Transition Program (RAFT) is designed to allow eligible households to receive a maximum of $4,000/year in flexible funds to help avoid or exit homelessness. Typical uses for RAFT include funds for rent, mortgage, or utility arrears, first and last months’ rent, startup costs, moving expenses, related household expenses, and/ or employment-related transportation costs. RAFT provides short-term financial assistance to households with incomes at or below 50% of area median income (AMI). At least 50% the funds are dedicated to households with incomes below 30% AMI. RAFT is a program of the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and is administered by 11 regional agencies across the Commonwealth. RESIDENTIAL ASSISTANCE FOR FAMILIES IN TRANSITION (RAFT) PROGRAM AND COVID-19 STATE OF EMERGENCY The state now has a new special $5 million fund within RAFT to serve households facing a COVID-19-related housing crisis due to a loss of wages or increase in expenses (e.g. medical expenses). There may be additional funding and expanded eligibility in the coming weeks and months. ---PAGE BREAK--- Adams Lanesborough Richmond Alford Lee Sandisfield Becket Lenox Savoy Cheshire Monterey Sheffield Clarksburg Mount Washington Stockbridge Dalton New Ashford Tyringham Egremont New Marlborough Washington Florida North Adams West Stockbridge Great Barrington Otis Williamstown Hancock Peru Windsor Hinsdale Pittsfield Amesbury Andover Billerica Chelmsford Dracut Dunstable Groveland Haverhill Lawrence Lowell Merrimac Methuen Newburyport North Andover Salisbury Tewksbury Westford West Newbury BERKSHIRE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION & HOUSING SERVICES 1 Fenn Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201 I Phone [PHONE REDACTED] / Fax [PHONE REDACTED] CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS HOUSING ALLIANCE 6 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609 I Phone [PHONE REDACTED] COMMUNITY TEAMWORK, INC. 155 Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA 01852 I Phone [PHONE REDACTED]/[PHONE REDACTED] / Fax [PHONE REDACTED] OFFICE SPACE IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC. Staff will continue to work with households through telephone, email and fax. Households can leave a message at [PHONE REDACTED] x100 from 8:00- 4:30, which will be checked periodically throughout each weekday. Housing Consumer Education Assessment form can be filled out online: http://www.berkshirehousing.com/ documents/HCEC%20Intake%20 Assessment%20&%20All%20Forms- fillable.pdf Housing Counseling services are available but walk-ins are cancelled. Email [EMAIL REDACTED] or call [PHONE REDACTED] ext 172 for housing counseling. OFFICE IS CLOSED TO WALK-INS, and all individual meetings, workshops and trainings are cancelled. Resource Center and HCEC staff are available by phone/ email. In extreme circumstances, they may meet with clients on appointment-only basis. Resource Center and HCEC phone [PHONE REDACTED] and email [EMAIL REDACTED] (Emergency COVID phone line and email will be monitored 8:30-5:00 every weekday.) ---PAGE BREAK--- Aquinnah Edgartown Provincetown Barnstable Falmouth Sandwich Bourne Gosnold Tisbury Brewster Harwich Truro Chatham Mashpee Wellfleet Chilmark Nantucket West Tisbury Dennis Oak Bluffs Yarmouth Eastham Orleans Abington Hanover Plymouth Acushnet Hanson Attleboro Hingham Quincy Berkley Holbrook Randolph Braintree Hull Raynham Bridgewater Kingston Rehoboth Brockton Lakeville Rochester Carver Mansfield Rockland Cohasset Marion Scituate Dartmouth Marshfield Seekonk Dighton Mattapoisett Somerset Duxbury Middleborough Swansea East Bridgewater New Bedford Taunton Easton North Attleborough Wareham Fairhaven North Easton West Bridgewater Fall River Norton Westport Freetown Norwell Weymouth Halifax Pembroke Whitman FRANKLIN COUNTY HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 241 Millers Falls Road, Turner Falls, MA 01376 I Phone [PHONE REDACTED] / Fax [PHONE REDACTED] Ashfield Greenfield Orange Bernardston Hawley Rowe Buckland Heath Shelburne Charlemont Leverett Shutesbury Colrain Leyden Sunderland Conway Monroe Warwick Deerfield Montague Wendell Erving New Salem Whately Gill Northfield OFFICE SPACE IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC. Staff are available by telephone and email. HCEC form can be filled out online: hcec-intake-form HOUSING ASSISTANCE CORPORATION 460 West Main Street, Hyannis, MA 02601 I Phone [PHONE REDACTED] / Fax [PHONE REDACTED] NEIGHBORWORKS HOUSING SOLUTIONS 169 Summer Street, Kingston, MA 02364 I Phone [PHONE REDACTED] / Fax [PHONE REDACTED] NO WALK-IN HOURS. All services by phone or online until April 30 or until receive other guidance from CDC/state. For help with housing call [PHONE REDACTED] or email [EMAIL REDACTED] ALL OFFICES ARE TEMPORARILY SUSPENDING PUBLIC OFFICE HOURS. All programs are accessible via mail 169 Summer St, Kingston, MA 02364, phone [PHONE REDACTED], [PHONE REDACTED], fax [PHONE REDACTED] and email [EMAIL REDACTED] ---PAGE BREAK--- Beverly Lynn Peabody Boxford Rockport Danvers Magnolia Rowley Essex Manchester Salem Georgetown Marblehead Saugus Gloucester Middleton Swampscott Hamilton Nahant Topsfield Ipswich Newbury Arlington Lexington Somerville Bedford Malden Stoneham Belmont Medford Wakefield Boston Melrose Waltham Braintree Milton Watertown Brookline Newton Wilmington Burlington North Reading Winchester Cambridge Quincy Winthrop Chelsea Reading Woburn Everett Revere LYNN HOUSING AND NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT 39 Curwin Terrace, Lynn, MA 01905 I Phone [PHONE REDACTED] Staff available via phone [PHONE REDACTED] or via email [EMAIL REDACTED] OFFICE IS CLOSED TO IN PERSON CLIENTS. RAFT pre-applications can be filled out online METRO BOSTON HOUSING 1411 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02120 Phone [PHONE REDACTED]/[PHONE REDACTED] (MA only) / Fax [PHONE REDACTED] RCAP SOLUTIONS, INC. 191 May Street, Worcester, MA 01602 Phone [PHONE REDACTED]/[PHONE REDACTED] / Fax [PHONE REDACTED] OFFICE IS CLOSED AT LEAST THROUGH MARCH 30. General voicemail boxes are offline. For information about supportive services or housing advice financial assistance through RAFT, please contact the Housing Hub [EMAIL REDACTED], RAFT pre-applications can still be submitted online at www.waitlistcheck.com/MA2977- 1914 but further processing will be delayed until the office reopens. Ashburnham Ashby Athol Auburn Ayer Barre Bellingham Berlin Blackstone Bolton Boylston Brookfield Charlton Clinton Douglas Dudley East Brookfield Fitchburg Franklin Gardner Grafton Groton Hardwick Harvard Holden Hopedale Hubbardston Lancaster Leicester Leominster Lunenburg Mendon Milford Millbury Phillipston Princeton Royalston Rutland Shirley Shrewsbury Southborough Southbridge Spencer Sterling Sturbridge Sutton Templeton Townsend Upton Uxbridge Warren Webster West Boylston West Brookfield Westborough Westminster Winchendon ---PAGE BREAK--- OFFICE IS CLOSED UNTIL APRIL 8. RAFT and other funding assessments will be initiated over the phone. Call [PHONE REDACTED] and staff will coordinate to complete the process. RCAP SOLUTIONS IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC THROUGH APRIL 21 (SUBJECT TO CHANGE). Staff are available via email, phone and fax. Best way to contact for faster response is via email [EMAIL REDACTED] Documents can be faxed to [PHONE REDACTED]. Phone is [PHONE REDACTED] Mon-Fri 8:30-4:30. SOUTH MIDDLESEX OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL, INC. 7 Bishop Street, Framingham, MA 01702 I Phone [PHONE REDACTED] / Fax [PHONE REDACTED] WAY FINDERS 322 Main Street, Springfield, MA 01105 I Phone [PHONE REDACTED]/[PHONE REDACTED] / Fax [PHONE REDACTED] Acton Framingham Norwood Ashland Holliston Plainville Boxborough Hopkinton Sudbury Canton Maynard Walpole Carlisle Medfield Wayland Concord Medway Wellesley Dedham Millis Weston Dover Natick Westwood Foxborough Norfolk Wrentham OFFICES ARE CLOSED AND SCHEDULED TO RE-OPEN MARCH 30. Staff available by phone/email. HCEC can be reached at [PHONE REDACTED] x2171. Agawam Hadley Plainfield Amherst Hampton Russell Belchertown Hartfield South Hadley Blandford Holland Southampton Brimfield Holyoke Southwick Chester Huntington Springfield Chesterfield Longmeadow Wales Chicopee Ludlow Ware Cummington Middlefield Westford East Longmeadow Monson Westhampton Easthampton Montgomery West Springfield Goshen Northampton Wilbraham Granby Palmer Williamsburg Granville Pelham Worthington 73 Buffum Street, Lynn MA 01902 I Phone [PHONE REDACTED] I www.mahomeless.org FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT