MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES ONE-YEAR RESULTS OF HOMELESS ACTION PLAN, UNVEILS "BOSTON'S WAY HOME"

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES ONE-YEAR RESULTS OF HOMELESS ACTION PLAN, UNVEILS "BOSTON'S WAY HOME"

BOSTON - Thursday, July 21, 2016  - One year after the launch of the City's action plan to end chronic and veteran homelessness by 2018, Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced that the City is well on its way to meeting its goals, and relaunched the plan as "Boston's Way Home." Boston has ended chronic homelessness among veterans by housing more than 650 homeless veterans, and more than 100 chronically homeless individuals in only six months, and also by reforming the housing and service delivery system for homeless individuals. View a  summary of our one-year accomplishments. "Helping our homeless has always been a deeply personal issue for me, and I am proud of the work we have done with our partners to improve the way we deliver services to our homeless population," said Mayor Walsh. "'Boston's Way Home' reflects our focus on permanent supportive housing and how we will meet our goal of ending chronic homelessness by 2018." The City of Boston has launched a new presence for the initiative that provides background and updates on the plan, as well as a Twitter account --@BostonsWayHome -- to keep residents apprised of progress and ways to get engaged. In partnership with agencies at the Federal and State level and the city's strong nonprofit network, Boston's Way Home aims to better connect homeless individuals with housing and the support they need to become stable.    The initiative's home at the new boston.gov will provide a comprehensive overview of the action plan, as well as regular progress reports.   "Boston is incredibly lucky to have a strong network of providers of service to our homeless, and they have done incredible work over many years," said Sheila Dillon, Boston's Chief of Housing and Director of Neighborhood Development. "This new, coordinated approach is working because it focuses on connecting chronically homeless individuals with the services that address their specific case, thereby helping them find a permanent solution." The new logo, a straight path that cuts through a maze and leads directly to a home, reflects the promise of Boston's Way Home. In the year since the launch of Boston's Way Home, the City of Boston, along with its partners has: Ended chronic veteran homelessness by housing nearly 684 homeless veterans since July 2014;   Identified every chronically homeless person in the City of Boston and is currently helping them find  permanent supportive housing;   Housed 101 chronically homeless individuals since January 2016;   Piloted a centralized IT system to match homeless individuals with the housing and services they need; the platform is expected to roll out in August 2016;   Redesigned its housing and service delivery system for homeless individuals;   Hosted five "housing surge" events since November 2015, where representatives from government and nonprofit agencies gather in one place to assist homeless people in connecting with housing and housing resources;   Received a total of $425,000 in private endowments and grants, $900,000 in state housing vouchers, and $1.05 million in new City funding to support new efforts related to the system change across agencies and service providers.