What We Do
PREVENTION
Are you at risk of or in the process of being evicted?
We have prevented more than 2,500 evictions in Greater Boston. 95% of our clients are still housed after 48 months.
HOUSING SEARCH
Do you need help finding housing?
We have helped find permanent housing for more than 10,000 individuals experiencing homelessness in the Greater Boston area.
STABILIZATION
Do you need help managing your housing?
We support, on average, 500 people per year to stay off the street and sustain their housing.
HomeStart Staff Are Working Remotely While Our Office Is Closed to the Public
Due to the current public health emergency and in efforts to prevent and limit exposure, HomeStart's office is CLOSED until it is safe for clients and staff to reopen.
We will announce the office's re-opening based on city and state guidelines regarding COVID-19.
HomeStart's physical office is closed but our vital work continues. HomeStart staff are working remotely and responding to voicemail and email messages, so if you are a current HomeStart client, please contact your advocate by phone or email.
For our Eviction Prevention Hotline, please call 857-415-2900.
Massachusetts recently passed a law "freezing" evictions through August 18th or 45 days after this state of emergency ends, whichever is sooner. During this time we will be answering calls and performing eligibility assessments for when they resume. We created a brief fact sheet about what this law means for renters, or you can read the full bill here. If you're unable to pay your rent due to a COVID-19-related loss of income, it's important you fill out and deliver this notice to your landlord within 30 days of when rent was due.
For general inquiries or updates, please leave us a voicemail at 617-542-0338 or email us at homestart@homestart.org.
If you need assistance
EVICTION PREVENTION HOTLINE
1-857-415-2900
If you owe back rent and are trying to stay in your apartment, we may be able to help.
WALK-IN HOURS
We offer brief, one-time housing search consultations to anyone who needs assistance with the affordable housing search process. You will most likely not receive an advocate at this time.
Wednesdays:
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
VOLUNTEER
Do you have an interest in serving Boston's homeless? Click below to find out how you or your corporate team can volunteer.
RENEW COLLABORATIVE
FOR LANDLORDS
Do you own rental property in the Boston area? Are you trying to fill a vacancy? Click below to access our Landlord Portal and to connect with our staff.
Over the past decade HomeStart has developed an economically sustainable and scalable program that prevents homelessness. The Renew Collaborative is a disruptive social innovation premised on a simple cost-benefit argument for the benefit of eviction prevention and driven by the stunning social outcomes of the program. Our goal is to eliminate homelessness due to non-payment eviction for families with subsidies and the working poor in Massachusetts.
Matthew Desmond
Professor of Sociology-Princeton University
MacArthur Genius Fellowship recipient and
Pulitzer Prize-Winning author of Evicted:
Poverty and Profit in the American City
