Conversations with Cities: Boston & Homelessness

Conversations with Cities

In this blog series, we interview city officials about challenges and innovations they're using to solve problems. This conversation is with Matthew Landers, Senior Officer for Street Homelessness Initiatives at City of Boston. Let's break it down.

💰 Funding & Resources:
Boston's street initiatives are bolstered by federal grants, including a notable $16.7 M dedicated to utilizing 374 housing resources.

📈 Revamping Programs:
1. There's a keen focus on evaluating and sunsetting existing programs to make way for more effective solutions.
2. The first task was clear: Define "what." This meant aggregating data on unsheltered individuals and categorizing them into actionable tiers.

🌎 Real-World Challenges:
1. Visibility Barriers: Nonprofits and agencies have significant interactions with unsheltered people, but the city often lacks this visibility due to data blind spots.
2. Geographic Limitations: Boston can only serve residents within its jurisdiction, creating barriers to collaboration with neighboring areas such as Cambridge.
3. Data Privacy: Health-related data adds layers of complexity, making sharing information between entities a challenge.

🛤 Operational Hurdles:
Homelessness responses are downtown-centric, with less insight into peripheral areas which demand engagement with more non-traditional housing providers.

Want to hear about a specific city or issue? Let us know!