December 10, 2020 — The Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance recently announced that it granted $2,305,011 to 29 Massachusetts nonprofits to provide housing stabilization services for victims of crime in response to challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grantees will receive funding to provide critical services to victims facing eviction and/or housing instability through June 30. As the moratorium on evictions and foreclosures in Massachusetts expired on October 17, the funding will help them protect against displacement, loss of housing, and homelessness for victims of crime.

“Ensuring survivors of crime have a roof over their heads is critical to the health and safety of them and their families”, said Liam Lowney, executive director for the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance. “This pandemic has increased isolation and economic distress, forcing many victims impacted by violence to lose their homes.

“During these unprecedented times it is essential that we support the victim serving organizations with the funding they need to meet the evolving needs of their clients.”

Receiving funding were the following:

• Benevolent Fraternity of Unitarian Churches, Unitarian, Boston: $92,700
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston: $180,215
• Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, Cambridge: $25,000
• Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston: $19,350
• Casa Myrna, Boston: $208,866
• Centerboard, Lynn: $110,750
• De Novo, Cambridge: $180,000
• DOVE (Domestic Violence Ended), Quincy: $56,250
• Elizabeth Freeman Center, Pittsfield: $82,000
• HarborCOV, Chelsea: $321,732
• HAWC (Healing Abuse Working for Children), Salem: $100,000
• Health Imperatives, Brockton: $20,000
• Hilltown Community Health Centers, Huntington: $20,000
• Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center, Newburyport: $23,400
• Jewish Family and Children Services, Waltham: $121,445
• Key Program, Children’s Charter, Waltham: $10,000
• Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers, Cambridge: $45,000
• Mothers for Justice and Equality, Boston: $30,000
• The Network/LA Red, Framingham: $71,575
• On The Rise, Cambridge: $10,000
• REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, Waltham: $100,000
• RESPOND Inc, Somerville: $130,912
• RIA House, Framingham: $20,000
• Safe Passage, Northampton: $40,000
• South Middlesex Opportunity Council – Voices Against Violence, Framingham: $50,000
• Southeast Family Services/South Shore Resource and Advocacy Center, Brockton: $24,148
• Transition House, Cambridge: $80,000
• Womanshelter/Compañeras, Holyoke: $85,668
• YWCA Northeastern Massachusetts, Lawrence: $46,000

Dulce Ferreira, director of domestic violence and sexual assault services for the Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers, noting that the funding will be crucial to help prevent homelessness, said, “We have seen a substantial increase in the number of cases in our communities since the start of the pandemic, and it is essential that these victims are fully supported.”