Accelerated shelter shutdown eases school concerns, worries residents

The state has moved up its deadline to close its emergency shelter in Acton, answering one question for local schools while resident families wonder what’s next.

Kevin Connor of the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities confirmed the Elm Street site will shutter by July 31 — a full month ahead of a previous target. 

The closure comes as the state looks to stop using hotels like the former Best Western to house people in crisis. Gov. Maura Healey announced the transition last year. Last month, she said shutdowns were ahead of schedule. 

In Acton, where the non-profit Making Opportunity Count operates the shelter, MOC spokesperson Colby O’Brien said staff are “fully focused on supporting families through this transition.”

He said the shelter will operate through the end of July; those who don’t get permanent housing by then will move to another family shelter.

In an email, EOHLC press secretary Tara Smith confirmed that the contract for the site runs until July 31. Smith said the state wants to give families time to pack and prepare for their move. Officials also want to let the hotel owners “address any on-site maintenance, cleaning, renovations, or other work,” according to Smith, and some residents say they’ve been told to leave by the end of June. “If the shelter were to continue to operate into July,” Smith said, “it would be well below capacity.”

Shelter residents who spoke with The Acton Bridge last week said they weren’t feeling supported in their search.

“We’re sitting here stuck here,” said one man who declined to give his name for fear of retaliation. “We need somewhere to go.”

School concerns

The Acton shelter opened in 2023 as the state faced a surge of people seeking a place to stay. Demand has dipped, and the population at the Elm Street site has more than halved since October. 

As the closure loomed, Acton school officials said an August 31 shutdown could cause problems if students started the school year here and then moved elsewhere. (The first day of school is August 27.)

Federal law requires schools to transport homeless students back to the school where they started the year, even if they move. Many families who passed through the Acton shelter since 2023 have young kids, and schools Superintendent Laurie Hunter said officials have managed a “really complicated web of transportation” for students who left the area. 

The state reimburses transportation costs. Because schools front the bill, Hunter said that still put “quite a bit of pressure” on the fiscal 2025 budget — to the tune of roughly $300,000.

At Town Meeting last week, Hunter said shelter transportation “is not expected to be a factor in the fiscal 2026 budget, per se.” But, she cautioned, “there’s some residual things to play out.”

‘We’re stressing out’

Acton shelter residents complained to the Health Department last fall about a cockroach infestation and other problems.

The Healey administration soon afterward said that hotels, in general, aren’t an “ideal environment” for families. 

The man who spoke with The Bridge said his family wants to get out of the system but doesn’t know where they’ll go. He said he tries to shield his daughter from those worries, but, he said, “We’re stressing out.”

A friend who recently moved to another shelter echoed the man’s concerns while they both sat in his air-conditioned car in the June heat. 

For his part, O’Brien thanked locals for help which has included volunteers at children’s play spaces, donations from the library and faith communities, and more.

“We are immensely grateful for the Acton community’s support of the site, which has played a meaningful role in helping families stabilize and rebuild during their time in shelter,” he said. 

Jamsan Hotel Management owns the shelter building and hasn’t said what it plans to do once the state wraps operations. The company received a license for 2025 and could resume hotel operations but didn’t respond to a Bridge inquiry before publication.