In the last six months, Metro Housing Boston provided 2,807 families with Rental Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) funds to help people throughout 30 communities in the region stay housed, a 64% increase from the entirety of FY'20 (July 1, 2019 - June 30,2020). In Malden, this has led to nearly three times as many families served, with 82 applicants receiving over $180,000 in the last 6 months compared to 31 applicants receiving over $87,000 in FY'20.
This increased capacity comes as the result of a streamlined application process and, thanks in part to advocacy from our office, a newly established centralized call and processing center to assist Metro Housing Boston with backlogged cases. With these improvements, Metro Housing Boston expects to serve nearly three times as many households by the end of June.
Each week, Metro Housing Boston disperses an average of nearly $800,000 in RAFT funds to assist families in the region, and with these added efficiencies, expects to soon increase this number to $1,000,000 weekly.