Housing Families

What Housing Families does

Housing Families is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit social services organization founded in 1986 (originally as the Tri-City Housing Task Force for Homeless Families) and headquartered at 919 Eastern Avenue in Malden, Massachusetts. It provides a holistic, wraparound suite of services to families and individuals experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity across 27 communities in the Greater Boston Metro North region. Core program lines include emergency family shelter (98 apartments across Greater Boston), permanent supportive housing (113 apartments with rent capped at 30% of household income), individual shelter (40-bed capacity in Malden), mobile street outreach (eight-city coverage), and winter warming centers; free legal services (Legal Aid for Wellbeing and Stability / LAWS) including eviction defense, housing court representation, and regional eviction sealing clinics; the EnrichEd youth program offering after-school tutoring, summer camps, school-based clinical support, and transportation; the CareCollective clinical mental health program providing individual and group therapy in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole; and a Community Resource Center for food and personal care assistance. The organization has served more than 11,000 families and individuals since 1986 and currently serves nearly 7,000 people annually.

The organization's underlying technology is operational rather than digital—it is a physical infrastructure platform comprising shelter properties, clinical facilities, school-based service points, and a mobile outreach fleet, supported by case-management workflows and referral partnerships with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) for family shelter intake. Revenue mechanics are donations-and-grants based: Housing Families is funded primarily through foundation grants (including a record $5 million from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund in December 2025, to be deployed over five years), corporate sponsorships (Cummings Foundation, United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Bank of America, Greystar, StonehamBank, Hamilton Charitable Foundation), individual donations, and government contracts (notably operating the City of Malden's Office of Housing Stability). All client services are provided free of charge. The organization employs 120+ staff across program delivery, development, property management, and clinical operations, and is governed by a Board of Directors chaired by Dr. Ann Chen Wu under CEO Laura Rosi, Esq.

Name

Housing Families

Legal name

Housing Families Inc.

Website

https://housingfamilies.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Housing Families is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1986 that delivers emergency shelter, permanent supportive housing, free legal services, youth development, mental health therapy, and food assistance to families and individuals experiencing homelessness across 27 Greater Boston communities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Homeless and Housing-Insecurity Social Services

NAICS

Temporary Shelters (624221), Other Community Housing Services (624229)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Housing Assistance & Homeless Services (BPAGAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Homelessness Prevention, Shelter & Supportive Housing Services (BPAIANAC), Family & Parenting Support Services (BPAGAEAC), Housing & Neighborhood Services (Local Housing Programs) (BPAIACAJ)

Keywords

• Emergency shelter services
• Affordable housing programs
• Homeless prevention legal aid
• Youth development programs
• Community mental health services

Headquarters

HQ city

Malden

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: Housing Families operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funded primarily through donations from individuals, corporations, foundations, and government grants. The organization received its largest gift in history - a $5 million grant from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund in December 2025.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Housing Families provides emergency family and individual shelter, permanent supportive housing, free legal services to prevent eviction, therapeutic youth development programs (EnrichEd), trauma-informed mental health counseling (CareCollective), food and personal care assistance through a Community Resource Center, and policy advocacy. All programs are delivered free of charge to eligible families and individuals experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity across Greater Boston's Metro North region. The organization also operates the City of Malden's Office of Housing Stability, providing rental assistance, eviction prevention, legal aid, and landlord-tenant mediation.

Product overview

Housing Families is a nonprofit social services organization offering a holistic suite of housing, legal, youth development, and health & wellbeing programs. The organization operates as a unified platform of integrated services centered on housing stability, including emergency shelter (family and individual), permanent supportive housing, housing search case management, free legal services (LAWS), therapeutic youth programs (EnrichEd), clinical mental health services (CareCollective), food assistance, and advocacy. Programs are designed to work together as wraparound services supporting families and individuals experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Family Emergency Shelter Emergency family shelter program providing 98 apartments throughout Greater Boston with private bath and kitchen, along with intensive case management, housing assistance, and mental health services for families experiencing homelessness. Families are referred through the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) system.
• Individual Homelessness Services Emergency shelter for homeless adults (40 guests capacity) plus Mobile Street Outreach and Supportive Services covering eight cities, and Warming Centers during winter months for individual adults experiencing homelessness.
• Permanent Supportive Housing

Quantifiable outcome

• $6.67 social/economic value per dollar invested in legal services
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• SpoonfulscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025Spoonfuls is the largest food recovery operation in New England. They deliver healthy, fresh food directly to Housing Families' Shelter Programs, Community Resource Center, and Mobile Street Outreach Program. Since 2010, Spoonfuls has kept over 40 million pounds of food out of landfills.
• Agassiz VillageminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHousing Families partners with Agassiz Village through the Homeless Campership Fund to send youth to a 12-day overnight summer camp in Maine. The camp spans 337 acres and offers activities including snorkeling, sailing, high ropes course, archery, and more.
• Connor's Kindness ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConnor's Kindness Project distributes Kindness Kits containing mini Legos, Play-Doh, crayons, coloring books, and more to children in Housing Families' shelter programs. Since 2021, nearly 500 Kindness Kits and essential kits have been distributed.
• City of MaldencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal partner for eviction sealing clinics. Housing Families also operates the City of Malden's Office of Housing Stability, which provides rental assistance, eviction prevention, legal assistance, and landlord-tenant mediation.
• City of EverettcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal partner for regional eviction sealing clinics to help tenants seal eviction records under Massachusetts' new eviction record sealing law.
• City of ReverecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal partner for eviction sealing clinics and warming center operations during winter months.
• City of WoburnminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal partner for eviction sealing clinics.
• The Neighborhood DeveloperscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner with Housing Families to implement the Mobile Street Outreach and Supportive Services program covering eight cities in the North Suburban Consortium.
• Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC)flagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorState agency that refers families to Housing Families' emergency shelter program. Families are placed in shelter through EOHLC's system.
• Massachusetts Supportive Housing Pipeline CoalitionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition member for advocacy and policy work.
• Massachusetts Housing & Shelter AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition member for advocacy and policy work.
• Bread of LifeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMalden food pantry partner for food assistance referrals.
• Project BreadminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMassachusetts food pantry partner for food assistance referrals.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves16 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Boston-based nonprofit serving homeless and at-risk youth with shelter, education, employment, and health services. Comparable youth-focused programming to Housing Families' EnrichEd and street outreach model.
• Heading Home: Greater Boston nonprofit providing emergency shelter, permanent supportive housing, and housing stabilization services. Directly comparable operating model focused on family and individual homelessness in the same metro.
• The Neighborhood Developers: Chelsea-based community development nonprofit partnering with Housing Families on the Mobile Street Outreach program. Provides affordable housing and supportive services in the same North Suburban Consortium footprint.
• Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program: Greater Boston nonprofit delivering medical, behavioral, and social services to individuals experiencing homelessness. Comparable clinical-plus-social services model with overlapping client populations in the same region.
• Pine Street Inn: Boston's largest nonprofit provider of emergency shelter, permanent supportive housing, and street outreach for individuals experiencing homelessness. Operates a similarly integrated model in Greater Boston with significantly larger scale, making it the most directly comparable peer to Housing Families.
• Eliot Community Human Services: Massachusetts human services nonprofit providing housing, behavioral health, and community-based support. A board member's affiliation links Eliot directly to Housing Families and the operating model is comparable in scope and geography.
• Casa Esperanza: Roxbury-based nonprofit providing bilingual shelter, housing, and recovery services for families and individuals affected by homelessness, substance use, and domestic violence. Comparable integrated services model in Greater Boston.
• Father Bill's & MainSpring: Massachusetts-based nonprofit operating emergency shelters, permanent supportive housing, and homelessness prevention programs on the South Shore. Comparable holistic-services model targeting families and individuals experiencing housing instability.

Regional players

• City Mission Boston: Boston-area faith-based nonprofit providing shelter, food, and supportive services to families and individuals experiencing homelessness. Comparable service breadth and target population though primarily focused on the South Shore/Boston corridor.

Others

• Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance: Statewide nonprofit coalition of which Housing Families is a member, focused on advocacy and policy for homelessness and housing insecurity. Comparable mission space but operates as an industry association rather than direct service provider.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/housingfamilies
• Facebookfacebook.com/housingfamilies
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/housingfamilies
• Instagraminstagram.com/housingfamilies1986

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Housing Families