Viewpoint: Funding needed to convert hotels to housing

At the height of Covid-19, the need for social distancing threatened the congregate model of shelter housing, requiring an emergency solution to house those most impacted by the health crisis. Hotel and motel properties have long been the fallback for crowded shelters, but during the pandemic, the idea of adaptive reuse projects to convert vacant and underused motel properties into dignified housing solutions was born.

These motel conversions — from the urban core in Brockton to rural Hampshire and Berkshire Counties — now are becoming an important long-term solution for people facing homelessness who need supportive services where they live. That’s a welcome development by all those who work collaboratively to provide safe housing for at-risk populations across Massachusetts.