The new emergency overnight shelter will open amid the migrant crisis and a shelter system that is already at capacity. It can house 70 families.
A state-owned building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will be used as an overnight shelter on Friday for unhoused families, according to a state official.
The Healey administration will "open a safety-net site" to make sure "families who are eligible for Emergency Assistance have a warm and safe place to stay overnight until an EA shelter unit becomes available," Emergency Assistance Director Scott Rice said in an email Thursday.
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The building will accommodate up to 70 families, with cots and some amenities, officials said. The site will only be used in the evenings and overnight, according to officials. It's only available to families who have been determined eligible for emergency assistance.
Families, officials said, will not have to go back to the Family Welcome Centers every day, and will be able to re-register for an overnight stay at the Cambridge building.
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The building was formally used as a courthouse, according to the Boston Herald.
This isn't the first time Gov. Maura Healey has temporarily converted state-owned property into emergency shelters. Last month, the Massachusetts State Transportation Building in Boston served as a makeshift shelter for up to 25 families.
Massachusetts has a "right-to-shelter" law that requires it to house families in need, but the system is at capacity and families are being forced onto a waitlist.
Earlier this month, the state passed a $3.1 billion spending bill packed with money for the stretched-thin emergency shelter system and public worker raises. Healey signed it soon afterward.
