Walkers came together outside City Hall to participate in the 15th annual Save Our Homes Walk on June 10. — Photos by Shira Laucharoen

By Shira Laucharoen

On June 10, the Affordable Housing Organizing Committee held its 15th annual Save Our Homes Walk, a 5k march that raised funds contributing to the prevention of homelessness. Drawing together 100 walkers, the walk collected $33,625 to provide for emergency assistance.

Walkers trekked a route that began and ended at Somerville’s City Hall, while passing different affordable housing sites. Locations included on the path were the Mystic Public Housing Development, St. Polycarp Village, Cross Street Family Shelter, and Next Step Housing. The agencies behind the Affordable Housing Organizing Committee, an advocacy coalition, were the Somerville Homeless Coalition, Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services, the Community Action Agency of Somerville, and the Somerville Community Corporation.

Residents living in Somerville continue to be at risk of homelessness, said Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services attorney Ellen Shachter, stating that the problem has grown with the city’s rise of rent prices. The struggle to maintain a home not only impacts low-income households but has become a hardship for working and middle class families as well.

Walk teams included representatives from the Benjamin Brown School.

“In recent years, the number and range of people threatened with displacement has increased, in that people with more income are finding themselves subject to displacement, as housing prices spiral,” Shachter said. “Not only are prices escalating in Somerville, but in surrounding communities.”

The walk endeavors to address this situation by creating grants that will help households stay in their residencies. Funds have contributed to security deposits, back rent, utility bills, and moving related costs. Many families facing the possibility of eviction experience challenges, such as physical or mental disabilities, while others may include senior citizens. Some individuals may have fallen behind on rent because of unemployment, domestic violence, or other sources of adversity. Grants from the walk can help alleviate costs before the condition of homelessness befalls a resident.

“People currently housed may be at risk of becoming homeless, due to back rent or back utilities,” said the Somerville Homeless Coalition’s director of development Kathryn Benjamin. “If they’re living paycheck to paycheck, and their car breaks down, and they can’t pay the rent, then they’re on the street. If we can help pay the car repair bill, then they will keep their homes.”

Speaker Steve Dugan described his personal experience facing the threat of homelessness.

In 2017, the walk raised money to prevent 287 people, including 115 children, in 96 households, from becoming homeless. To improve the housing situation in Somerville, Shachter said that she hopes to see enough flexible funds generated to “sustain people in creative ways,” as well as stronger condominium conversion laws. Somerville Community Corporation CEO Danny LeBlanc advocated for the support of the Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition, which would create a fee on real estate transactions that would support affordable housing.

Participants walked for 3.1 miles, visiting different affordable housing sites in Somerville.