Organizational History

Founded in 1981, the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless was the first statewide advocacy organization for the homeless in the nation. The Coalition traces its beginnings to local task forces that grew up around Massachusetts as homelessness was recognized as a complex and widespread problem. Realizing that emergency services alone could not solve homelessness, shelter providers and advocates created the Coalition to work on broader economic and social factors that effect or cause homelessness.

The Coalition was organized as an informal network in 1981 under the wing of Family Service Association of Greater Boston, and was incorporated as an independent organization in 1983. The Coalition was established when shelter providers recognized that homelessness was not going away, that it would take more than shelter to solve homelessness, that homelessness was a statewide problem, and that there was a need for more than shelter providers to get involved.

 

For more information or to get involved, call the Coalition at (781) 595-7570