FamilyAid — a Boston-based nonprofit focused on reducing homelessness and increasing housing stability — is partnering with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) to create a “Family Navigation Center” in Newton on the site of the former Chetwynde nursing home (1650 Washington Street, next door to Warren House).
The Center will provide 42 units of transitional housing for families facing homelessness, along with education, training, and other support services to help them succeed. Most FamilyAid client families are single mothers with one or two young children, typically under five years old and certainly under 18. Families will typically move to more permanent housing within a year and will continue to receive FamilyAid services after the move.
Families in this program with school-age children will have the option of attending NPS or school in their prior districts. In either case, Superintendent Anna Nolin has stated that NPS student services will support these students. In a statement, Nolin said, “I am confident our Newton schools and community members will embrace these students and families and help them integrate into our community.” FamilyAid understands that the state will provide Newton Public Schools with subsidies of $1,000 initially plus $100 per school day per student attending NPS. Superintendent Nolin has indicated that there is state funding available to help support students attending school in other districts.
According to the Mayor’s Office, the terms of a lease between FamilyAid and the property owners have not be finalized, but the proposal will likely be filed with the City for administrative site plan approval in the next few weeks. Once approved, the project will require about four months for renovations, so the Center could open in early 2024. FamilyAid aims to lease and operate the site for up to 55 years.
FamilyAid will have a daily onsite presence at the Center. It has run a Family Navigation Center in Brookline’s Coolidge Corner since 2019.