The Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA) has been awarded a $40,000 grant by the Boston Foundation for an initiative to address homelessness.

The grant, entitled Beyond Home & Healthy for Good: An Initiative to End Chronic Homelessness, will allow advocacy for, and development of, policy and practice that will reduce barriers to healthcare for homeless individuals. It will advance a "housing first" approach to chronic homelessness, a strategy that places homeless individuals directly into permanent housing and provides them with an array of supportive services.

"This generous grant from the Boston Foundation will allow MHSA to continue easing the plight of the chronically homeless, a group that is the costliest population of homeless individuals," said MHSA President & Executive Director Joe Finn. "These economic times demand investment in solutions that save money and work to end homelessness."

The Boston Foundation, Greater Boston’s community foundation, bills itself as one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the nation, with assets of $763 million.