COVID-19: Impact on FBMS Operations

How You Can Help

During this crisis, 260+ people every night continue to rely on our shelters in Quincy and Brockton. We ask that you help us put the word out and/or consider contributing the following essential needs:

- Cash donations provide us the most flexibility to respond to needs as they arise. Click here to make a donation on our website. Donations by check can be mailed to: Father Bill’s & MainSpring, Attn: Development, 430 Belmont Street, Brockton, MA 02301
- We are hiring temporary, part-time, and full-time shelter support staff to help meet a growing need for our services. We’re paying $19/hour during this crisis. Individuals can also volunteer to support our operations. Click here for the job description. To apply, send cover letter resume to employment@helpfbms.org.
- Prepared meals for dinner (serving approximately 50-60 people each site). We’re in need of prepared, serve-ready dinners for our shelter sites, particularly our temporary shelter at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy. Meals can be delivered cold (not requiring heating) or heated, ready to serve in disposable containers. Deliveries must be scheduled in advance. Contact Mary Ann Mendes, mmendes@helpfbms.org (508-427-6448 X2283) for available dates and delivery instructions. IMPORTANT: Please wear gloves and use care when handling food.
- Bagged lunches (shelf stable items preferred) and/or bagged lunch supplies (bread, large cans of tuna, peanut butter, jelly, chips, etc.). Click here to learn more about bagged lunch donations. IMPORTANT: Please wear gloves and use care when handling food.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) and cleaning supplies – masks, gloves, hand soap, Lysol spray and wipes, toilet paper, paper towels.
- Toiler paper, hand soap, and bottled water for tenants of our permanent supportive housing properties.

Donations can be sent or delivered to our shelter sites, Father Bill’s Place (38 Broad Street, Quincy) and MainSpring House (54 N. Main Street, Brockton), or to our administrative offices at 430 Belmont Street in Brockton. All donations must be coordinated in advance of delivery, and donations can be picked up at your vehicles by staff at these locations. To schedule a delivery, email mmendes@helpfbms.org.

Besides our shelters for individual adults, our agency also provides emergency shelter to more than 130 families per night. Click here to find out how you can help families served by FBMS during this crisis.

Protecting Our Most Vulnerable

Based on guidance from public health organizations, and out of an abundance of caution for the vulnerable population we serve, FBMS has implemented the following guidelines and procedures at our shelter sites in order to limit any potential exposure of COVID-19 to our shelter guests:

FBMS has implemented an enhanced, thorough intake screening process to our shelter guests on a nightly basis to ensure the health and safety of everyone in our buildings.
Until further notice, no outside individuals/groups are allowed to enter our sites.
Community lunch service will be suspended until further notice and bagged lunches will be provided to shelter guests. This will allow our operations teams to use daytime hours to adequately and safely prepare for our evening intake
process and shelter hours.
Earlier this winter, we stepped up our preventative measures to ensure our vulnerable population is safe, increasing the grade of our cleaning supplies, disinfecting more often, making sanitizer readily available.

We have partnered with public officials and local organizations to open temporary shelter sites to help depopulate Father Bill’s Place in Quincy and MainSpring House in Brockton. In Quincy, the gymnasium inside the South Shore YMCA Quincy branch is providing extra space and additional amenities to approximately 50 guests from Father Bill’s Place. In Brockton, several tents have been erected outside of MainSpring House to serve approximately 60 individuals.

By opening up these additional sites, there’s more space for guests and staff to follow social distancing guidelines recommended by the CDC and we have the flexibility to open up quarantine sites, if necessary.

We work with an immunodeficient population, including many elders, who are among the most vulnerable members of our community. Any virus, whether it’s the seasonal flu or coronavirus, can have an especially devastating impact on our shelter population, so it’s our responsibility to take every step needed to protect those we serve.

We hope you will keep this vulnerable population in mind as we move through these unprecedented times.