On February 11th, 2026, more than 220 tenants and allies joined MRVP Cookie Day in the Great Hall at the MA State House to ask for an increase in funding to $300 million and to codify the Mass Rental Voucher Program (S2826/H1547). This was the second year we had hosted this event along with our partners, CHAPA, 2life Communities, EMPath, and Massachusetts Coalition For The Homeless, Rosie's Place, and Community Teamwork

Thanks to this incredible showing, we were able to deliver a house-shaped cookie and information about MRVP to all 200 legislators and have meetings with over 80 offices where we were able to discuss the program in-depth.

We also had the honor of presenting our "Big Cookie Award" to the Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Representative Aaron Michlewitz, for his longstanding and continuous support of MRVP. He was presented the award by MAHT tenant leader and MRVP recipient, Victor Brogna, whose father represented the same district as Rep. Michlewitz 100 years ago.

"We need to continue to stand up for Massachusetts and protect all of our residents, protect our most vulnerable, and make sure that housing is a critical component in our conversations," Representative Michlewitz said upon receiving the award.

We greatly appreciated the support from our other speakers, including tenant leaders Carmen Allen, Tiffany Jenkins, Alice Schwinger, and Rita Gibbons, as well as Representative Richard Haggerty, and staff members from the offices of Senator Joan Lovely and Representative Adrian Madaro.

Carmen Allen, Forbes Building Tenant Leader

MAHT Tenant Leader Carmen Allen, a previously homeless, disabled veteran, voiced her feelings about what happens when you don’t have guaranteed housing like MRVP: “Having been homeless, you have that level of anxiety. Once you’ve been homeless one time, there’s always an anxiety, where you say, ‘Can I do this next month? Is something else going to happen that I can’t prevent?”

                   Tiffany Jenkins of Empath                                          Rita Gibbons, resident of 2Life Communities                   

We are also deeply grateful to our organizational partners who helped in the planning and coordination of the event, and who brought tenants out to join our lobbying forces!

Many thanks to Haley House for providing the house-shaped cookies and the State House Cafe for providing sandwiches.

MAHT continues to advocate for an increase in funding and codification of MRVP.