WOBURN, MASS. (WHDH) - Woburn city leaders are working on a plan as the city deals with an influx of migrant families being sheltered in local hotels.
Dozens of families were being housed in hotels around the city as of Monday. Moving forward, officials say there could be another 100 families coming soon.
“We were informed after the fact that the community has an additional 59 families in hotels across the city of Woburn,” Woburn Mayor Scott Galvin said in a recent interview.
Last Sunday, Woburn was housing 10 migrant families. As of Monday, the city had 59.
The influx of migrants to the city has come as Massachusetts gets record numbers of refugees fleeing dangerous conditions in Haiti and arriving in the US. As a “Right to Shelter” state, Massachusetts must provide families housing.
To date, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll recently said the state has placed families in more than 80 communities.
“We have a duty both legally and a humanitarian one to provide care,” Driscoll said.
Woburn’s mayor said his concern is about the strain this increase in population could put on public safety resources and the local school system.
“As the situation continues to unfold, we’ll need more teachers. We’ll definitely EL teachers to help assimilate students into classes,” he said.
Come next week, Woburn’s Sonesta Select hotel will be converted into an emergency shelter to help register migrants’ children into school while also providing healthcare and other essential services.
In the meantime, many in the community have stepped up to offer help.
“The state is providing lunch and dinner and health needs, but we’re there to supplement and fill in the gaps,” said Kelly Hurley, a Woburn teacher and volunteer.
Essential supplies are now stacked inside Woburn’s United Methodist Church, including items such as formula for babies.
SCI VEAP Outreach Coordinator Vitalie Memeus is also helping translate for migrants. She said she has heard “a lot of sad stories.”
“These people have been on their journey, some of them for the past six months, going from country to country,” she said.
Mayor Galvin said the state has contracted with hotels to provide shelter for families.
City officials are now looking to the point next week when the Sonesta Select hotel turns into an emergency shelter as their opportunity to find out how many migrant children will be enrolled in the school system come September, as well as the needs of those children.
7NEWS separately reached out to the Woburn Public Schools, which issued a statement regarding the recent arrival of new migrant families.
The schools in their statement said officials “have been in close contact with the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, which has shared that Woburn may soon serve as the host community for up to 159 unhoused migrant families.”
“We continue to collaborate with EOHLC and our partners with the City of Woburn, as well as local organizations, to better understand the needs of this group so that we can appropriately prepare to welcome them to Woburn,” the schools said. “In Woburn there is a group of dedicated volunteers working to assist these families and provide basic necessities, translation services, and support – Woburn truly is an amazing community.”
“As we gain clarity on the number of school-aged children who are enrolling in the Woburn Public Schools, we look forward to ensuring a smooth transition into the beginning of this school year, and that students and parents/guardians alike feel welcomed and included in their new school community,” the Woburn Public Schools statement continued.
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