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POR 2026-144 · Agenda item attachment · Aug 3 2026
That the City Council urge Governor Maura Healey, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, and the Hildebrand Family Self-Help Center to work collaboratively with St. Paul AME Church to support the continued use of St. Paul AME Church properties as Family Shelter sites.
POR 2026-144
FIRST IN COUNCIL
August 3, 2026
City of Cambridge
COUNCILLOR SIMMONS
COUNCILLOR MCGOVERN
WHEREAS:
For approximately forty years, St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church has
partnered with the Hildebrand Family Self-Help Center and the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts to provide shelter and support to families experiencing homelessness;
and
WHEREAS:
This longstanding partnership has provided vulnerable families with safe shelter,
continuity of care, and connections to services within the Cambridge community; and
WHEREAS:
St. Paul AME Church has been informed that the properties located at 41–43
Columbia Avenue and 39 Bishop Allen Drive will no longer be operated as
Hildebrand family shelter sites beyond October 31, 2026; and
WHEREAS:
The loss of these established shelter locations would reduce family shelter capacity in
Cambridge and disrupt a partnership that has served families successfully for four
decades; now therefore be it
ORDERED:
That the Cambridge City Council go on record in support of maintaining the St. Paul
AME Church properties as approved family shelter sites; and be it further
ORDERED:
That the City Council respectfully urge Governor Maura Healey, Lieutenant
Governor Kim Driscoll, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities,
and the Hildebrand Family Self-Help Center to work collaboratively with St. Paul
AME Church to preserve these shelter locations and continue this longstanding
partnership; and be it further
ORDERED:
That the City Clerk be and hereby is requested to forward suitably engrossed copies
of this order to Governor Healey, Lieutenant Governor Driscoll, the Secretary of
Housing and Livable Communities, the Hildebrand Family Self-Help Center, and
Reverend Ellis I. Washington on behalf of the entire City Council.
A true copy;
ATTEST:-
Paula M. Crane,
Interim City Clerk
City of Cambridge
That the City Council urge Governor Maura Healey, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, the Executive
Office of Housing and Livable Communities, and the Hildebrand Family Self-Help Center to work
collaboratively with St. Paul AME Church to support the continued use of St. Paul AME Church
properties as Family Shelter sites.