The position ‘s , filled- to- bursting , Emergency Shelter , system , is expanding its existence into Lexington, where refugees and other homeless people may be partially housed at the local , Massachusetts National Guard , arsenal, the Herald has learned.
The Lexington Armory , building located at , 459 Bedford Street, in , Lexington, Massachusetts, will be used to building up to 55 immigrant communities while the condition looks for another more permanent spots to keep them, Emergency Assistance Director and retired , Air National Guard , Lt. Gen.  , Scott Rice , said.
” We have identified a express- owned creating in , Lexington , to use as a security- online site for families experiencing homelessness. We expect to open the page following month, he said in an emailed speech.” Preparation are underway in close cooperation with local officers,” he said.
Lexington Town , Manager , James Malloy , said the express notified the area of the program about a week ago and has been in normal phone since then.
” The State has furthermore informed our class director of any anticipated effects.” We anticipate that the only real influence will be our , Health Department , to ensure all these families ‘ needs are met as well as the difficulty with the schools in having students who may only be with our method for a small, temporary period, according to Malloy, according to the Herald.
The announcement comes as the , Bay State , struggles with a migrant crisis that has lasted for months in response to parliamentary silence regarding the , U.S. , borders or the skill of migrants to work while they await a judge’s decision on the status of their asylum claims.
Last summer, Gov.  , Maura Healey , declared that a state of emergency existed , in , Massachusetts , as a result of the influx of migrant families, and instituted a statewide cap for the , Emergency Shelter , system of 7, 500 families. The state has stayed at or near that cap since , November.
There were 7, 483 families in state shelters as of Friday, according to information provided by the , Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, with an additional 350 families waiting for a place in” safety net” sites awaiting a place in Emergency Assistance housing. Healey’s staff stressed many of those in shelter are  , Bay State , residents.
The commonwealth is the only state in the United States to grant pregnant mothers and families with young children the right to shelter. The bill for housing all of those new arrivals approaches$ 1 billion annually, according to , state budget writers.
The Lexington Armory, according to information , provided by the state, is a nearly 35, 000- square- foot facility found along the eastern side of , Route 4 , that sits on just over four acres of green space and adjacent to the Ivan Street Conservation Land. Built in 1964, the 60- year old brick- veneered concrete building includes an assembly hall, a mess hall that doubles as classroom space, a kitchen, showers and locker room facilities, offices, and administrative space.
Since 1997, the building has been listed as the official home of the , U. S , Army’s historic , 211th Military Police Battalion, according to , army historians. That unit, also known as the” First Corps of Cadets”, can trace its roots to the famed , Independent Company , of Cadets, a unit formed in colonial , Massachusetts , in 1741 under the command of , Lt. Col.  , Benjamin Pollard.
According to the EOHLC, there are nine , Massachusetts National Guard , members currently assigned to unit administrative tasks who use the building on a day- to- day basis. Those soldiers will continue their duties at the , Lexington Armory , while the site is used for shelter, according to the , Healey Administration.
Many of the families that will be housed in , Lexington , are currently living at the Cass Center in , Roxbury, which will cease operation as an overflow shelter in May.
In response to the Healey Administration’s decision to house migrants in , Lexington, the MassGOP released the following statement.
” For years, veteran homeless people have been occupying our streets without having the necessary options.”  , Democrats , did n’t take such extreme measures to house homeless individuals until the migrant crisis took over , Massachusetts. Veterans are still not prioritized within the system, and we are currently seeing these transitional housing facilities cropping up across the Commonwealth. Representative , Brad Jones , made an attempt to address this through a recent amendment, but shockingly,  , Democrats , swiftly shot it down. Clearly, Democratic priorities are not aligned with the values of the residents of the Commonwealth”, a MassGOP spokesman said.
Residents are urged to make it clear that the people who are being displaced from this and all of these transitional locations do not fall under the 7, 500 family cap set forth by the shelter system. They are categorized as’ in waiting.’ There is no end in sight for the Commonwealth’s migrant population, which is far higher than the cap. It’s worse and more costly than folks realize. The incessant influx of migrants and the consequent perpetual spending can only be curbed by amending the right- to- shelter law, as proposed by , Republicans , in both the , House and Senate. If left unchecked, this crisis will persist indefinitely until , Massachusetts , exhausts its housing options or depletes funds to sustain critical programs. Failure to take action now is going to have severe consequences for the Commonwealth”, they said.
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