A local nonprofit has purchased the former EnVision Hotel on South Huntington Avenue, which it has been operating as temporary transitional housing since 2022. Victory Programs is now operating the site as a permanent housing site for individuals coming from Mass. and Cass.
The EnVision Hotel opened as a boutique hotel in 2012, and shutdown during the pandemic. Local nonprofit Victory Programs began operating the site as transitional housing thanks to a city contract. Victory Programs moved its headquarters to Jamaica Plain in 2022, and opened a recovery center on South Street in January 2024.
UniversalHub.com reported that SDS Hospitality, which owned the hotel, sold the building to Victory Programs for $15.8 million, according to Suffolk County Registry of Deeds records.
Victory Programs operates different versions of housing, and considers the site as low-threshold housing, which they opened in response “to the public health and humanitarian crisis unfolding near the intersection of Massachusetts Ave. and Melnea Cass Blvd…designed to meet the complex needs of individuals experiencing homelessness.”
Victory Programs’ low-threshold programs provide stays for an unlimited timespan, but the goal is to get people into permanent housing in 3 to 9 months. The program is staffed 24/7 all year round and provide services including supportive case management, assistance with housing retention skills, setting goals, developing long-term plans, referrals to community services, medical and detoxification providers, and employment resources.
The Boston Public Health Commission announced last week that the site will imminently have a no cost harm reduction vending machine that will include supplies like naloxone, safe injection kids, and fentanyl test strips. The machines were provided by the state’s Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Addiction Services and Office of HIV/AIDS. The machine will only be available to EnVision clients, as it expands existing access to harm reduction supplies provided at the site by making overnight access to supplies easier. Individuals wanting to access the vending machine at EnVision can learn how to register as a client and be connected to services at vpi.org/connect-
