CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – The housing crisis has created a growing number of homeless individuals and families, nationwide.
According to the Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness , Massachusetts ranked fifth in overall homelessness numbers and saw the third-highest increase among all states in 2024. The reasons for this increase are varied: growing numbers of newly arrived refugees and migrant families, soaring rents, and the lack of affordable housing.
Center for Human Development conducts “point-in-time count” of homeless individuals in Chicopee and Holyoke
The Point-in-Time Count is a national initiative by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that conducts a count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January.
On Wednesday, January 29, teams from the Center for Human Development (CHD) and other community partners called Continuums of Care (CoCs) surveyed the streets of Springfield, Chicopee, and Holyoke to see how many people in those cities are unsheltered…