U.S. General Services Administration
Project to help end local homelessness is a triple win for GSA, the state, and local community
More than 200 members of the Plymouth County community, including Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor, Kim Driscoll, and Mayor of Brockton, Honorable Robert Sullivan, were present on May 3, 2023 to celebrate the groundbreaking on a $19 million innovative Housing Resource Center that will support people facing a housing crisis.
In 2020, the Department of the Army reported its Reserve Center in Brockton, MA, as excess to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development then determined that the property was suitable, and therefore eligible, for a public benefit conveyance for uses that assist individuals experiencing homelessness. GSA then issued a Screening Notice to allow eligible entities to apply for the property.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the lead sponsoring agency for this public benefit program, received several letters of interest in response to GSA’s Notice, ultimately approving the application submitted by Father Bill’s & MainSpring (FBMS), a non-profit and regional leader of services to prevent and end homelessness.
FBMS’s forward thinking vision to develop the property into a Housing Resource Center will benefit the community’s most vulnerable citizens and is being recognized as a national model in the fight to end homelessness.
Region One Project Manager, Sara Massarello, represented GSA and read a letter from Acting Regional Administrator and Public Buildings Service Regional Commissioner, Glenn Rotondo highlighting that he believes this project is a triple win for federal, state, and local partnerships.
“Overseeing the disposition of unneeded federal property is an integral part of GSA’s mission,” said Rotondo. “Working together with partner federal agencies, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, business groups, and citizens, we are able to leave a lasting positive impact on communities by making valuable government assets available for numerous public purposes.”
FBMS President & CEO, John Yazwinski, echoed Rotondo’s statement adding, “In order to end homelessness, we need to think outside the box, explore all opportunities for innovation, and collaborate with our partners in government and the private sector.”
“This project is a perfect example of what can be accomplished when federal and local governments partner with nonprofits for the betterment of the community,” Rotondo said.
Rendering of Brockton Housing Resource Center: the former Army Reserve Center was approved for conveyance to FBMS through Title V of the McKinney-Vento Act, which allows eligible entities to apply for unneeded, suitable federal property for uses that assist individuals experiencing homelessness.
The Brockton Housing Resource Center will include a day center with supportive services and programs, an emergency shelter with 128 beds, and 32 units of permanent supportive housing.
GSA is a proud member of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, whose mission is to coordinate the federal response to homelessness and to create a national partnership at every level of government and the private sector to reduce and end homelessness.