WORCESTER — On Tuesday, June 2, 2026, members of the Worcester City Council’s Standing Committee on Finance discussed an apparent rise in senior homelessness and concerns that neighboring municipalities may be sending unhoused residents to Worcester to use city services.
The discussion came during the committee’s review of the Health and Human Services Department budget.
Councilor-at-Large Morris Bergman asked the city’s Commissioner of Health & Human Services Seema Dixit if Worcester was seeing an increase in unhoused veterans or senior citizens.
“Anecdotally, the increase in seniors has been noticed by outreach workers,” Dixit said. “We don’t exactly have data that we are looking into, but anecdotally it has been documented that above 55 and senior homeless populations is on the rise.”
Bergman said Worcester has limited resources and raised concern that surrounding communities may be relying on Worcester to serve people experiencing homelessness.
“I have a challenge with the budgeting of assisting our unhoused population when our communities surrounding us don’t do their share,” Bergman said. Later adding, “And we have a budget that’s limited. Let’s be realistic. Our budget is limited. We don’t have endless dollars.”
Bergman said he had a problem with the city being expected to provide services to people from surrounding towns while Worcester residents also need help.
“I have a very hard time saying that you’re not going to get any more attention than the person that was told from Leicester or Paxton or one of the surrounding towns, Holden, go to Worcester they have more services,” Bergman said. “I have a fundamental problem with not taking care of people from Worcester first.”
Bergman said his comments were not a criticism of Dixit’s office, but a concern about the broader regional burden on Worcester.
Councilor-at-Large Kate Toomey later referenced Bergman’s comments and said she would like to refile a request she submitted last year for a report from the city manager on the steps needed to create a Central Massachusetts substance use disorder and mental health fund. The proposed intermunicipal fund would require proportional contributions from Worcester and surrounding communities to support housing, treatment, mobile outreach, and public health infrastructure.
Toomey said the order she filed last year had been adopted by the city council, but that she did not believe that the council “got the report back” yet.
No separate vote on the refiled request was taken during that portion of the committee discussion.
