Western Massachusetts, similar to the rest of the United States, is experiencing post-pandemic inflation in food and necessities. Many communities are suffering from increased levels of food and housing insecurity.
Despite community members working multiple jobs, income is not sufficient enough to pay for Amherst or Northampton rents, which have continued to skyrocket over the past couple of years. Inflation contributes to the rise of food in grocery stores, resulting in 9.2 percent of people in Massachusetts’ four westernmost counties experiencing food insecurity.
Last August, Governor Maura Healey declared a state of emergency to address the rise of homelessness among Massachusetts families. As of last September, over 184,000 Massachusetts residents were on the waitlist for state-subsidized apartments.
Multiple community resources throughout the Amherst and Northampton region provide both food and housing relief for residents across Western Massachusetts.
Organizations like the Amherst Survival Center, Manna, the Northampton Survival Center, ServiceNet, Grow Food Northampton and Clinical and Support Options provide various resources to people in the area.
Along with necessities like hot meals and groceries, they offer a large number of social services like healthcare, housing assistance and community spaces. Simply having a place to rest during the day has become an increasing need for those who aren’t comfortable staying in a shelter or sleeping on the streets through the night.
To combat a lack of housing, companies such as ValleyCDC have built multiple affordable housing units in the general Amherst area. However, individuals aren’t guaranteed housing and can remain on waiting lists for years.
“When I was in shelter in 2013, I applied to … all the subsidized things. I just got a letter two weeks ago, telling me I’m at the top of the list,” Jei Staples said, director of operations at Craig’s Doors, a housing-centered organization that runs a shelter in Amherst.
To qualify for state-aided public housing, a household must typically make no more than 80 percent of the median income for their area. Once they pass the threshold, they may no longer qualify and rent may increase.
“You have to stay poor to afford your rent … it’s like the cycle of poverty you can’t break out of … it’s called Temporary Housing, but it’s not temporary,” Erin Ferrentino said, the food access manager from Grow Food Northampton, an organization that provides food through community farms.
Ferrentino highlighted how earning more money could make lower-income people lose their food and housing benefits. “There’s these systems in place that incentivize people to stay poor in this really specific way,” added Ferrentino.
Craig’s Doors, a human services organization, is Amherst’s main homelessness shelter. They house people through their shelter site in Amherst as well as the EconoLodge building in Hadley. The Amherst shelter has beds for 28 guests a night, while the EconoLodge has 38. The Resource Center, near the Amherst shelter, gives individuals a place to relax, have a coffee, or shower.
“Typically, how we operate is, if you’re trying to obtain shelter, you come here,” Staples said about the Amherst shelter.
The lack of housing and shelter in both the Amherst and Northampton area does not go unnoticed. While there are many resources for food, such as hot meals, groceries or drive through pantries, there are limited resources for overnight housing, leading to various outdoor homeless encampments throughout the area, with people living in tents in town as well.
“Northampton is not necessarily known as a food insecure town. There are many folks at Manna who will say something along the lines of ‘you might freeze to death in Northampton, but you won’t die of hunger,” Liv Combest said, program coordinator of the Northampton Survival Center, a food and necessities pantry.
Getting people permanent housing provides challenges. Staples explained that Craig’s Doors turned away around 30 people each day in the winter. Kaitlyn Ferrari, development director of Manna Soup Kitchen, said that they have been able to get ten people into state housing in the past year. “To know that our folks have stayed housed is also a victory too,” she explained.
Staples described a hotel program this past winter in which Hampden, Berkshire, Franklin and Hampshire counties all received state funding. “If we were ever at capacity, we could put people up in hotels during inclement weather, which was a lovely program … I really hope we get to do it again next year,” Staples said.
Service organizations have responded to an increased need for services. Post-pandemic, the Amherst Survival Center served 80 to 100 meals a day but now are serving 300-350. At Manna, they used to provide 20 delivery meals a day, and now they do 100.
“We have seen a lot more people but with varying levels of need … some people come to us once every couple months … some people, if they have seasonal work, they’ll come to us in their off season … but many, many folks at least for the drive through … come every week,” Combest said.
There has been a recent rise in college students experiencing food insecurity or homelessness. The main point the service organizations hope to emphasize is that anyone, at any varying level of need, are eligible to use the resources provided by them.
“By coming here, you are not taking away food from people who need it more, that’s something we hear all of the time. We don’t run out of food and we can always get more food from the food bank,” said Combest.
The stigma surrounding homelessness or food insecurity makes it difficult for human services organizations to promote affordable housing or shelters to the right people. According to Pat De Angelis, an Amherst Town Council Member, combatting this stigma is a key goal.
Making assumptions people without knowing their struggles “really [blocks] change around homelessness,” De Angelis said.
Outreach to marginalized communities comes with its own set of challenges. Those who have been failed by institutions may be the most difficult to reach and most in need of resources.
Staples said there has been a “historical trust barrier between our organization and the people that we serve.” To combat this, “We really try and keep a good relationship with the people in the encampments, especially because a lot of them are down there because they don’t trust shelters. So, we really like to try and support them as best we can and whatever they need,” they said.
Community resources like the Amherst Survival Center, the Northampton Survival Center, Manna, and Craig’s Doors run through many volunteers right out of the communities they serve. They each have hundreds of volunteers that make the organizations what they are.
“Some people would prefer to … get a chance to say hello to all of our guests when they come in, some people would prefer to do more behind the scenes … there is kind of a job for everyone,” said Ferrari.
For some service organization leaders, personal experiences with food or housing insecurity have fueled their work.
“I lived here 20 years ago and had no money, was totally food insecure, was on food stamps, and Manna was right up here and had no idea, and I had a new baby,” Ferrari said.
She added, “If I had known that, that would’ve been really helpful for me. So, if I can share that with more people, that’s kind of what I do… it makes a huge difference.”
Staples personally experienced homelessness with their children and is also a recovering alcoholic. “It’s actually like the most empowering thing in the world to be able to use my experiences and bring these things to fruition to really try and help people who have been through things that I’ve been through,” Staples said.
For those who can’t afford the process of finding a healthcare provider and dealing with barriers of accessible healthcare, many of these necessities can be provided through these service organizations as well. Visitors can get check-ups, testing, and referrals to other healthcare providers.
“To see a healthcare provider, the steps to get a visit for just anybody is so hard… if you haven’t seen a doctor in a few years, you can see [a provider] downstairs and she’ll get you a basic wellness check and see if there is anyone else you need to see,” Ferrari said.
For those experiencing homelessness, just going to the doctor can be “stigmatizing.” They praised Dr. Jessica Bossie, whom people call “the homeless doctor, because she’s like the only person in our region that provides these services specifically to the unhoused population.”
One initiative for the future is the Community Resilience Hub, being led by the city of Northampton. It will have many of the various community organizations in one building in downtown Northampton. The space is set to have amenities such as showers, lockers, laundry, charging spaces, as well as healthcare and social care assistance. The service organizations in the area will work together to provide specific services.
Gilad Meron, the Community Resilience Hub coordinator, hopes that Hub will provide a variety of services, including fulfilling basic needs, providing longer-term care and even building a sense of community and belonging.
“[It should be] a place where you can go and not feel like you are being kind of demonized for the state of your life,” Meron added.
Eve Neumann can be reached at [email protected]. Alexandra Rowe can be reached at [email protected].
