Housing Justice

Serving with Capuchin Mobile Ministries

It’s hard to believe my summer internship at BFJN is about to come to a close. Two months has flown by, and I’ve learnt so much - from principles of faith-based organizing and practices of lament in the face of injustice, to accompanying those in shelters and creating resources for churches to combat housing insecurity. The lessons of this summer are taking root and I know they will stay with me for years to come. 

At a faith organizing event

I wanted my third blog to touch on some of the learning, volunteering and advocacy resources I’ve come across over this period, as a way to translate education into action. As many of you reading may know, our focus at BFJN this year is housing justice. We are calling and equipping Christians and churches to educate themselves about homelessness, plug into engaged practical action to combat housing insecurity, and connect their faith in a just God to advocacy that brings about glimpses of a just world. 

Oftentimes, we want to help marginalized and housing-insecure populations, but we just don’t know where to start. BFJN has recently updated our housing justice page to include key information on three main pathways (education, direct service and advocacy) for churches looking to get involved in the work. But in order to not to overwhelm readers with information, this blog post offers a super condensed version of “ways in” to the work. 

Helping Art with his delicious meal at a transitional home run by the Friend's of Boston's Homeless

When I feel ill-equipped to take action on a subject, I read, and when the reading feels distant from the real world, I get my hands dirty and volunteer. And when volunteering awakens me to the wider systems of injustice that affect our housing landscape, I know it’s time to advocate. Each stream is linked and has been a massive part of my journey of faith and justice, and the paths I’ll take going forward. I hope the following resources help you too!

Education

An article to read: An article from the Boston Globe about the history and current state of the housing crisis in Massachusetts. 

A video to watch: Segregated by Design, a video about how government policy deliberately segregated America and caused housing injustice.

A podcast to listen to: This Great and Complicated Place,  podcast about how churches and faith communities can engage with questions of race and equity by focusing on the urban design and experience of their cities.

A book to read: When We Walk By: Forgotten Humanity, Broken Systems, and the Role We Can Each Play in Ending Homelessness in America (Kevin F. Adler and Donald W. Burnes)

Direct Service

A selection of organizations that work to prevent homelessness and housing insecurity. Investigate those in your region and see how you might start volunteering!

Western Massachusetts: Craig’s Doors, Way Finders, Horizons for Homeless Children in Amherst

Central Massachusetts: Abby’s House, Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance, Community Day Center of Waltham

Northeast Massachusetts: Emmaus, Homeless Reform Project, Lazarus House Ministries

MetroWest: Family Promise MetroWest, Metro Housing Boston, A Place to Turn

Southeast Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and the Islands: Father Bill’s & MainSpring, Cape Cod Council of Churches Homeless Ministries, Champ Homes

Greater Boston: Manna Boston, On the Rise, Cambridge Women’s Center

Advocacy

Urgent advocacy opportunities that require your help: contacting legislators, getting the word out, endorsing bills and more.

1. Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless have a database of housing-related bills they are supporting in the upcoming session. Inform yourself about the bills with a one-pager, and think about your church endorsing it as an organization. 

2. Abundant Housing MA, a pro-housing advocacy organization has identified several legislative priorities for the 25-26 session. We encourage you to explore these legislative campaigns and call their senators and representatives to sponsor and support the bills. 

3. If your congregation has an appetite for organizing and wants to join a coalition of faith communities who advocate for just policies, consider embarking on the process of becoming a member with Greater Boston Interfaith Organization.

A thought to leave you with: If your church or faith community does direct service work with unhoused communities, you might want to think about forging relationships with congregations doing similar outreach, and explore the possibility of advocating together on particular policy issues. Alongside each other, you can arrange conversations with your legislators and push for bills that will increase affordable housing, reform our shelter system, assist unhoused communities and bring about housing justice in Massachusetts and beyond. You can find our work-in-progress database of faith-based organizations working for housing justice in Boston here.

A detailed database with further resources and framing for churches wanting to get involved with housing justice can be found here and our housing justice webpage includes lists and toolkits to ignite churches to take on the work of combatting housing insecurity.

If you’re looking to chat to someone about this work or plug into accompaniment and advocacy with unhoused communities, please contact our Housing Insecurity Team at housinginsecurityteam@bostonfaithjustice.org.