Catholic Charities Boston opened a short-term, overnight shelter Tuesday evening for families and pregnant people who have applied for emergency assistance but were placed on a waitlist because of capacity limitations imposed by the Healey administration.

The nonprofit received funding from United Way of Massachusetts Bay, which is administering a $5 million grant program Gov. Maura Healey announced last week. The Catholic Charities Boston site, located in Greater Boston, can house 27 families or 81 people and includes bedding, meals, staff to assist guests, and security.

“It is heartbreaking to see families living with uncertainty of where they will sleep at night – with the arrival of colder weather we are grateful for the governor and her administration’s leadership and our partners at United Way in activating funds quickly to stand up this emergency shelter plan,” Catholic Charities Boston President Kelley Tuthill said in a statement.

Applications for United Way of Massachusetts Bay’s shelter grant program were released last week, around the same time the organization held an information session with over 160 providers and stakeholders.

An influx of migrant arrivals in Massachusetts and high housing costs have pushed the state’s emergency shelter system for families with children and pregnant people to its limits.

With projections that shelters could end up holding more than 13,500 families by next year and cost the state $1.1 billion this fiscal year, Healey moved to cap the number of families in temporary housing to 7,500 and place those that applied afterward on a waiting list.

The move sparked concern among providers and advocates about where families would stay in Massachusetts during the winter. Amid calls for a state-funded overflow site, Healey created the grant program, with the state’s emergency assistance director, Lt. Gen. Scott Rice, acknowledging Massachusetts “is in a new phase of this challenge.”

The grant program draws money from a state housing trust fund that is being “backfilled by existing federal dollars,” a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities previously told the Herald.

United Way of Massachusetts Bay Vice President Sarah Bartley said the organization has received “several” applications and inquiries from community groups looking to develop additional sites.

“The informational sessions we held have generated many conversations with a wide range of property owners, supportive service organizations, and community groups who want to help, and we are encouraging them to apply for the program or connecting them with other ways that they can be of most assistance to families during this time,” Bartley said.