BOSTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency will send more than $4.3 million to Massachusetts to reimburse the Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance for the costs of setting up a quarantine shelter for homeless populations who were infected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The $4,345,945 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the commonwealth for contracting to convert the shuttered medical facility at the former Newton Pavilion in Boston into a non-congregate quarantine facility between March and June 2020 for homeless individuals who had tested positive for coronavirus.

 

This includes $1,787,791 for general contractor services; $1,493,693 for heating, ventilation, air conditioning & plumbing services; $485,041 for medical equipment (hospital beds and accessories); $350,263 for construction administration; $178,650 for elevator maintenance services; and $50,505 for fire protection services.

 

"FEMA is pleased to be able to assist the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with these costs," said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. "Providing resources for our partners on the front lines of the pandemic fight is critical to their success, and our success as a nation."

 

FEMA's Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for states and communities recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.

 

So far, FEMA has provided more than $1.5 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.