Shelter Welcomes Six Homeless Families into Newly Renovated Dorchester Program

On Monday, April 7, Victory Programs once again responded to emerging needs of the community by opening the doors to Chamblet Family Home, a 12-24 month family supportive housing program for homeless pregnant or parenting women. By the end of the week, six families will be transferred from temporary shelter in area hotels and motels into the newly renovated Victorian home on Chamblet Street in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood.

The recent surge in family homelessness in Massachusetts has resulted in nearly 2,000 families being housed in hotels and motels, a model that is not only expensive but fails to provide struggling families with the tools they need to secure work, education and more permanent housing solution. Hotels and motels lack adequate space to play, study or prepare home-cooked meals.

With the addition of Chamblet Family Home, six of those families will not receive life stabilization services provided by Victory Programs, ensuring that families receive access to childcare, housing search assistance, case management, parenting classes and financial counseling - services they would have gone without in the hotel and motel environments.

"The plight of homeless families is the most pressing community issue we face today that is within our power and grasp to fix," says Victory Programs' President & CEO Jonathan Scott. "The opening of the Chamblet Family Home is an important and life-affirming step for the Commonwealth. It demonstrates the positive action we can accomplish as a community when we make ending family homelessness a priority. Today we bring a few more young families one step closer to home."

Chamblet Family Home joins Victory Programs' two other family programs - Portis Family Home in Jamaica Plain and ReVision Family Home in Dorchester-that together house up to 30 families in need of permanent housing. Chamblet Family Home is expected to undergo a second phase of renovations in the fall that will allow2-3 additional families to move into the space.

Chamblet Family Home is funded by the Department of Housing and Community Development. The renovations to the building were made possible by the generosity of donors and foundations including the Franklin Square House Foundation, Sue Rothenberg, Charlesbank Homes and the Doe Family Foundation.