By Dakota Antelman — Dakota@concordbridge.org
The state won’t reveal details. But Concord’s school superintendent recently said she thinks the emergency shelter on Elm Street will keep operating for the foreseeable future.
In interviews conducted before the state temporarily stopped sending families to the shelter amid a Concord Bridge investigation of a cockroach infestation and septic backups, non-profit, state, and local leaders called the facility a model for other shelters.
Eyeing the work ahead, many of those leaders said legislators need to keep funding flowing.
“We’re going to be one of the long-term shelters,” Superintendent Laurie Hunter told the School Committee on October 22. “That just feels really obvious to me.”
Hunter highlighted an existing subsidy for shelter residents enrolled in local schools and said she would be “stunned” if the state lets it lapse.
‘Kind of a fire drill’
The state signed a lease for the Best Western at Historic Concord last March to augment its strained shelter system and hired the non-profit Making Opportunity Count (MOC) to manage the program.
Concord Carlisle Foundation executive director Jennifer Ubaldino said the shelter’s first few months were “kind of a fire drill.”
The foundation, formerly the Concord-Carlisle Community Chest, held donation drives and connected shelter operators with local resources.
Boston-based Horizons for Homeless Children opened a play space in April 2023 and recently added two outdoor areas for children.
The Health Department organized vaccination drives, and the Recreation Department offered free summer camps in 2023 and 2024. The department also allows children at the shelter to sign up for one free basketball or tennis program during the school year.
Recreation director Leigh Jackson said 29 children enrolled in no-cost summer camps this year.
Subsidy scheduled to end
Hunter said the state stepped up with a subsidy that pays $104 per day for each enrolled student from an emergency shelter.
As of October 28, Hunter said Concord had 47 students from the Elm Street shelter in K-8 classes. The high school had eight students.
Hunter praised the state’s support and said it has helped Concord provide English language education, sheltered English immersion, and counseling services, among other programs.
The state subsidy is scheduled to end on December 31 unless the legislature takes action.
“I think it would have a huge statewide impact if they did not [renew it],” Hunter told the Finance Committee on October 24.
Size and success
Hunter said she had not heard much about the local shelter’s long-term future. She said the facility is one of the largest of its kind, though, and the community has been welcoming.
“The success is one factor,” she said. “The size of the shelter is probably the bigger one that is making us suspect that we will be online longer.”
The Concord shelter housed 104 families as of October 30, according to a spokesperson for the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. That spokesperson said the shelter could remain open if its contracts are renewed next year.
State Rep. Simon Cataldo (D-Concord) said the facility’s fate “remains a moving target.” As for the daily subsidy for schools, he said he and Hunter agree it should be extended.
“I have continued to make the case for that result with the Legislature and to the Administration, and I feel confident that Concord’s voice is being heard on the matter,” Cataldo said in a November 15 statement.
Asked about the recent sanitation problems at the shelter, “I’m glad that the Health Department identified these issues and communicated them to the state,” the lawmaker said.
“It’s my understanding from EOHLC that the administration is working with the service provider to quickly address the concerns.”
Non-profits still invested
The facility’s parking lot bustled with activity on a recent Tuesday afternoon.
School vans brought students back to their temporary home. People walked to and from their cars.
MOC vice president of programs Colby O’Brien said his organization has a contract to continue managing the shelter through at least June 30, 2025. O’Brien said discussions about renewing the contract were ongoing as of November 11.
“As Concord is a phenomenal site, we will keep it phenomenal no matter what the duration is,” he said.
Ubaldino said she is “amazed and overwhelmed” by the community’s support of people in need.
She said the Concord Carlisle Foundation will continue to help the shelter’s residents “however long they’re here.”
Horizons chief of advancement and playspaces Tara Spalding said her organization also remains invested.
“As long as there are children who are living in homeless shelters, we are committed to making sure that they have safe, healthy places to play,” she said.
