Catholic Charities Boston gets grant to temporarily shelter up to 27 families on state waitlist

Catholic Charities Boston will be the first organization to secure grant funds through a new program aimed at helping families who have been waitlisted by the state's overburdened family shelter system.

It's unclear how much of the $5 million fund, managed by United Way of Massachusetts Bay, will be given to Catholic Charities Boston. United Way said the budget for the new site "is still being finalized," and the final awarded funds will depend on how long the emergency shelter stays open. However, the nonprofit will use its grant to set up emergency shelter rooms for up to 27 families in Greater Boston, according to a statement from United Way.

The so-called SafetyNet Shelter Grant Program was set up by Gov. Maura Healey's administration and United Way in the wake of the state's decision to cap the number of families the state would support in its shelter system. After the system reached that 7,500-family cap two weeks ago, dozens of families were placed on a waitlist.

The funds Catholic Charities Boston receives will go toward bedding, meals, staff and security for "extremely low-income families with children, and pregnant people who have an urgent and immediate need," and will be available for waitlisted families, United Way said in its statement.

Those waitlisted by the shelter system have had to find other places to sleep as temperatures dip and winter advances. Families who attempted to spend the night at Logan Airport last week were told to leave, and state officials have said they try to discourage people from seeking shelter at Logan or at area hospitals.

Separately, the MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng told staff this week that up to 25 families would be temporarily housed in conference rooms at the State Transportation Building in Boston.

Just over 100 people were on the state's shelter system waitlist as of Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities told the State House News Service.

“It is heartbreaking to see families living with uncertainty of where they will sleep at night — with the arrival of colder weather we are grateful for the Governor and her administration’s leadership and our partners at United Way in activating funds quickly to stand up this emergency shelter plan,” Kelley Tuthill, president of Catholic Charities Boston, said in the announcement of the grant.

The SafetyNet Shelter grants are "supported by existing federal funds" for housing and shelter initiatives, the Healey administration said in its Nov. 7 announcement of the program, two days before the governor declared the shelter system was full.

Applications for the grant program opened on Nov. 13, and United Way said it will accept applications for funding on a rolling basis. The program will run through the spring.

With reporting from WBUR's Gabrielle Emanuel and Walter Wuthmann, and material from State House News Service.