omerville allocates $1.6 million toward housing supportive services

by Estelle Anderson News Editor

Somerville’s Housing Division plans to allocate $1.6 million in federal funds towards services including rental assistance and housing stabilization by 2030. The funds were awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME Investment Partnership American Rescue Plan Program, an initiative that provides funding to reduce homelessness and increase housing stability across the country.

“Some of the data on rising housing costs and the shrinking number of naturally affordable rental units in the market indicate a growing crisis of housing instability and loss as well as family displacement in Somerville,” Lisa Davidson, the City of Somerville’s housing grants manager, wrote in an email to the Daily. “The impact [of the funds] will ideally be more individuals and families moving more quickly to thrive in stable and safe housing of their own.”

HUD allowed for four potential uses of the funds: producing and preserving affordable rental housing, expanding housing supportive services, providing tenant-based rental assistance and developing non-congregate shelters.

After consulting with community partners and collecting data, the city determined that the most pressing need in Somerville is increased affordable housing; however, their