An update from the Massachusetts Housing Shelter Alliance (MHSA):
Last week the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released the 2025 Continuum of Care (CoC) Competition Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). With this NOFO, HUD is drastically scaling back support for permanent housing, capping permanent housing funding at 30% of CoC awards.
This cap would leave many existing supportive housing projects without funding. The NOFO moves away from evidence-based, low-barrier, Housing First models toward service requirements, criminalization of homelessness, and shorter-term supports. The NOFO puts thousands of households in Massachusetts at risk of losing their housing.
Our Western MA CoCs are no exception with over 80% of its funding currently allocated to permanent housing.
MHSA is currently analyzing the NOFO and working with local, state, and national partners to strategize on next steps. We will keep you posted.
