BOSTON – The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $1.4 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for the costs associated with the sheltering of high-risk homeless populations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $1,434,451 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) for the costs associated with the sheltering of high-risk homeless populations between November 2020 and May 2021.
Contract services were used to open and operate a temporary shelter at the Health and Wellness Center in Boston which required interior facility disinfection, hiring security, and the purchase and distribution of food, water and ice.
“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Massachusetts with these costs,” said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. “Providing resources for our partners on the front lines of the pandemic fight is critical to their success, and our success as a nation.”
FEMA’s Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for states and communities recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.
So far, FEMA has provided more than $1 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.