New Bedford Special Committee on Housing Meeting – September 15, 2025

The Special Committee on Housing of the New Bedford City Council met on Monday, September 15, 2025, at 7:01 PM in the City Council Chamber. The meeting was live-streamed and recorded. Chair Ian Abreu presided. Councilors present: Choquette, Lopes, Gomes, Morad, Carney, Oliver, Burgo, Giesta, and Pereira. The meeting covered tenant perspectives, a comprehensive update on homeless services and plans, and an update on veteran homelessness.

Consent Calendar

• Item 1: Citizen’s Input – Joseph Quigley, 192 Walnut Street, spoke on “Tenant Perspectives.” A motion to receive and place the item on file was made by Councillor Oliver, seconded by Councillor Carney, and passed unanimously. Mr. Quigley then delivered a presentation.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Joseph Quigley (Item 1) presented a series of proposals to address housing affordability and prevent homelessness, including: requiring local buyers to have first option on property sales, informing tenants of intended building sales, capping rent increases to a reasonable percentage based on existing rent and median income, prohibiting application or credit check fees during the city's rebuilding, requiring new owners to provide moving expenses to displaced tenants in cash or money order, setting aside 15–20% of rental units in larger buildings for low-income housing defined by local median income, creating a dedicated city department for long-range housing problems, and mandating that corporate property buyers disclose their names publicly. He expressed frustration that previous communications to councilors were not acknowledged. Chair Abreu noted the clerk had no record of his email but invited him to resend.

Discussion Items

• Item 2 – Motion by Councillor Gomes to devise a plan to address homelessness and call a summit (Matter ID #1361, originally referred August 2024, tabled previously). The motion was removed from the table by Councillor Gomes, seconded by Councillor Burgo. Invited speakers included Jennifer Clarke, Deputy Director of Housing & Community Development; Carl Alves, CEO of PAACA; and Reverend David A. Lima, Executive Minister of Inter-Church Council of Greater New Bedford.

  Jennifer Clarke provided a detailed update on the city’s homeless response, including:

  • New Bedford is part of the Bristol County Continuum of Care (BCCC), formed in May 2024 by merging the Homeless Service Provider Network with other regional entities.
  • The BCCC received $3.8 million in federal Continuum of Care funding for the current cycle, of which New Bedford received approximately $2.8 million (about 75%).
  • The federal administration’s new conditions for COC funding (including a sex offender registry requirement not met by Massachusetts) have put future funding at risk; a lawsuit with a temporary restraining order is pending.
  • Concrete actions: meetings with a developer to convert a former nursing home in Dighton into permanent housing for elderly homeless (resulting in one New Bedford resident moving from shelter to a unit after over a year); review of a model with the Housing Authority to move stable supportive housing residents to less intensive housing; leveraging Medicaid for supportive services; working with the city’s vacant property manager; developing a feasibility study for expanding emergency shelter and creating a day facility (contract with NeighborWorks, initial report due December 2025); a separate feasibility study for permanent supportive housing and a day facility.
  • Statistics: from Emergency Solutions Grant funding, the city served over 450 people (300 in shelters, 14 households with rapid rehousing, 60 households with homeless prevention, 83 unsheltered individuals).
  • Efforts to strengthen governance: adopted bylaws creating a leadership council of people with lived experience of homelessness; launched a public data dashboard on the BCCC website; developing a data-driven performance scorecard for housing programs.
  • Ongoing coordination: bi-weekly by-name list meetings, cold weather overflow shelter planning (Catholic Charities confirmed multi-year funding), convening a HART task force to update protocols last drafted in 2017.

  Councillor Gomes responded emotionally after visiting an encampment, describing the living conditions and urging immediate action. He asked about plans for an emergency shelter building, noting the city has $3 million in opioid settlement funds that could be used. He criticized the pace of planning and called for a concrete action plan. Ms. Clarke responded that feasibility studies are necessary to assess locations, costs, operation, and sustainability.

  Councillor Pereira asked about the feasibility study timeline (December 2025 for initial product) and next steps. Ms. Clarke said it would be reviewed internally and presented to the COC leadership.

  Councillor Lopes asked about flexible funding needs; Ms. Clarke suggested a starting amount like $10,000 could last six months. She noted the city is hosting a philanthropic focus group as part of consolidated planning.

  Councillor Oliver asked about people who are resistant to shelter (estimated 30–40% refuse due to trauma, rules, etc.). He also asked about federal funding changes; Ms. Clarke explained that new conditions for the COC Builds NOFO exclude Massachusetts, and the outcome of litigation is uncertain.

  Councillor Burgo expressed frustration that the TAC report (released September 2024) led to another feasibility study due in December 2025, and noted that veteran homelessness functional zero has slipped (four veterans unsheltered in the most recent point-in-time count). He criticized the Mitchell administration for lack of engagement and insufficient use of ARPA funds for housing.

  Councillor Choquette requested adding Reverend Bob Hughes of House of Hope to future invite lists, noting his nontraditional approach. Councillor Gomes agreed to consider it.

  Reverend David A. Lima and Carl Alves (PAACA) spoke to the need for collective action and space for shelter. They highlighted that the overflow shelter activates when temperatures fall below 27°F, serving 70–80 people, but that is insufficient. They noted an aging homeless population (10–20% over 60) requiring specialized care. Reverend Lima mentioned the loss of flexible bus-ticket funding, and that he personally covers such costs. He also warned that new federal funding for faith communities comes with conditions allowing ICE access to facilities.

• Item 3 – Motion re: Tunnel to Towers Foundation “Veterans Villages” (Matter ID #0151, referred February 2025). The maker of the motion, Councillor Abreu, reported that the foundation declined to appear before the committee, though they were willing to meet individually via Zoom. Christopher Gomes, Veterans Agent, was present. He reported that New Bedford remains at functional zero for veteran homelessness, according to the state, reaffirmed by the Governor in April 2025. He attributed success to programs like Chapter 115 (financial aid) and support from Veterans’ Transition House and other agencies. A motion to table the item without a date was made by Councillor Oliver, seconded by Councillor Choquette, and passed.

Key Outcomes

• Item 1: Placed on file after citizen input.
• Item 2: Tabled for six months (to March 2026) by motion of Councillor Gomes, seconded by Councillor Pereira. The table includes a directive to return with cost breakdowns of planned initiatives and updates on the feasibility study.
• Item 3: Tabled without a date, pending potential future invitation to Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
• The committee intends to hold additional meetings on homelessness before the holidays, focusing on winter overflow shelter preparations.