About MHSA

The Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance is a non-profit public policy advocacy organization with the singular mission of ending homelessness in the Commonwealth. Founded in 1988 by a dedicated group of “first responders” working with unsheltered adults in Greater Boston, MHSA initiates solutions to move people out of crisis to permanence throughout Massachusetts.

MHSA is committed to ending homelessness by decreasing the dependence of homeless people on the government and creating options for homeless people to exercise their self determination. MHSA persists in raising a sense of moral indignation that any person should be without a decent place to live. Through strategic partnerships formed with government, private philanthropy, service providers, homeless individuals, and business, MHSA works to ensure that homelessness does not become a permanent part of the social landscape.

Homelessness is a housing crisis that affects thousands of poor working people and those with disabilities, mental illness, and addiction who cannot afford a place to live. As a result, the moral, social and financial costs of this crisis have soared as people rely on expensive emergency room and hospital visits, the correctional system, and the streets. Emergency shelters are not an adequate response to this problem. Thus, MHSA and its partners seek to create permanent residential solutions to end this social disgrace.