Tensions rise at ENC's migrant shelter in Quincy as homeless families are asked to leave

QUINCY ‒ As the migrant crisis stretches the state’s network of emergency shelters to capacity, the temporary shelter and family welcome center at Eastern Nazarene College has been depositing homeless families, some against their will, at the Wollaston MBTA station, according to city officials and police.

Quincy Police Chief Mark Kennedy told The Patriot Ledger that neither his department nor MBTA Transit Police have documented instances of homeless families camping overnight at the T station or elsewhere in the city. He said the situation has not created security issues for the city's residents.

Police have responded to calls from service providers at ENC asking for assistance with people reluctant to leave the shelter, which provides temporary shelter for up to 58 families.

The standoff between guests and service providers has led to multiple calls and one arrest after someone threw a brick when asked to leave, Kennedy said. No one was injured.

AMI Expeditionary Healthcare and Bay State Community Services oversee day-to-day operations of the welcome center and shelter.

On other occasions, service providers at ENC asked Quincy police to remove people from the shelter. But Kennedy said police do not have the legal authority to evict people from a shelter that has invited them in.

When the welcome center and temporary shelter opened in the summer of 2023, it processed new arrivals and provided temporary shelter – as brief as a day or two - before moving people to longer-term facilities.

“It's is not set up to keep them longer,” Kennedy said.

But with the emergency shelter system at capacity and overflow sites filling up, there is no longer anywhere for the families to go, Kennedy said. Instead, service providers at ENC have provided them with a Charlie Card and a van ride to the Wollaston T station.

The development comes about a week after Gov. Maura Healey forbade homeless migrant families from overnighting at Logan Airport, where many had been stuck waiting for openings at state-run shelters.

“If families are traveling to Massachusetts, they need to be prepared with a plan for housing that does not include Logan Airport or our Emergency Assistance shelters,” said Emergency Assistance Director Scott Rice in a news release announcing the new restriction.

Healey announced in October 2023 that the emergency shelter system would soon reach its capacity of 7,500 people. From that point forward, homeless families who qualified for assistance were put on a waiting list. In the meantime, many stayed at one of the state's "safety-net sites."

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In March, Healey announced a new requirement for people using the safety-net sites to recertify their eligibility every 30 days.

In June, Healey limited the length of stay in the Emergency Assistance Family Shelter system to nine months, with some families eligible for two 90-day extensions.

In late June, the state opened a new “safety-net site” at Bay State Correctional Center, a former prison in Norfolk, which has room to shelter 140 families, or about 400 people, according to the governor's office.

At present, 42 families stay at the Norfolk site, its current capacity. A state spokesperson said the site will be able to accommodate more people in the coming weeks and months.

In June, ENC announced it will close at the end of 2024 after more than 100 years in the city. The college said it expects no immediate impact on services provided to refugee families on campus.

What options do migrant families leaving ENC have?

Given the shelter system's lack of space, the state's Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities tries to connect arriving families with other options, according to the agency's press secretary, Kevin Connor.

This includes "re-ticketing," an optional program which diverts families from the shelter system by paying for their transportation if they have friends or family outside Massachusetts capable of hosting them.

The program is available to all homeless families, not just migrant refugees, Connor wrote in an email to The Patriot Ledger. The state has increasingly turned to this option due to capacity concerns at Family Welcome Centers across the state and the closure of Logan to migrants.

Another option is "diversion funding," through which the state program HomeBase provides eligible families up to $30,000 over a two-year period, with a possibility of a third year of help, to pay for an apartment, rent and utility arrears and up to $2,500 of furniture needs.

Peter Blandino covers Quincy for The Patriot Ledger. Contact him at pblandino@patriotledger.com.

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