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Our Bold Vision: Housing Resource Centers
Father Bill’s & MainSpring is transforming how our community responds to homelessness through the development of innovative Housing Resource Centers in Quincy and Brockton. The Yawkey Housing Resource Center in Quincy (pictured) is currently under construction and is expected to open in 2023.
While we remain committed to providing emergency shelter for anyone in need, we view shelter as a last response. The Housing Resource Center is a more cost-effective solution, and will achieve better, lasting outcomes for the people we serve.
Our goal is to engage with individuals early on and provide them with the personalized, targeted support they need, thus reducing length of stay in shelter, or avoiding it altogether. This will reduce costs related to emergency systems of care.
Our wraparound supports will produce better outcomes for those we serve, helping address several major social determinants of health: Housing, Nutrition, and Income.
Click here to learn more about our new model and how you can create A Path Home for our most vulnerable neighbors.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/TEB05wNqt-g” align=”center”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]
Making History
Father Bill’s & MainSpring’s hotel-to-housing conversion project in Brockton, recently featured on the front page of The Boston Globe, is receiving national attention as researchers and policy experts explore creative post-pandemic solutions to homelessness.
The Roadway Apartments, which opened this year to tenants like Ray (pictured), include efficiency permanent supportive housing unit for 69 homeless individuals. The hotel conversion is the first of its kind in the state.
The Roadway Apartments were featured in the Winter edition of Planning Magazine, published by the American Planning Association. Our hotel-to-housing conversion is also featured in “Addressing Homelessness Through Hotel Conversions,” a research paper conducted by The Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California Berkeley.
In June FBMS was awarded the COVID Impact Award by the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC) in recognition of the Roadway Apartments. MHIC is a leading private investor and lender in affordable housing across New England.
This recognition, along with our ongoing efforts to develop innovative Housing Resource Centers, is further proof that FBMS is at the forefront in the fight to end homelessness..[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Our Response to COVID-19
Our services never stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic. We work with an immunodeficient population, including many elders, who are among the most vulnerable members of our community. During this crisis, FBMS continued to provide emergency shelter to more than 250 individuals and 130 families every night.
Early in the pandemic, we 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. For example, in Quincy, the gymnasium inside the South Shore YMCA Quincy branch provided extra space and additional amenities to approximately 50 guests from Father Bill’s Place from April to June 2020. In Brockton, several tents were erected outside of MainSpring House to serve approximately 60 individuals.
These quick and collaborative responses saved lives, as we saw the infection rates plummet once we opened up the satellite sites.
In June 2020, in partnership with local officials we began operating satellite shelter sites at hotels in Quincy and Brockton, replacing the sites previously located at South Shore YMCA and in temporary tents. We have purchased the Brockton hotel we are utilizing in order to convert the property into permanent supportive housing for 69 individuals experiencing homelessness.
We have remained committed to operating satellite sites for the duration of this crisis. By opening up new 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.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/4Lg_QN8jR0w” align=”center”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUKJiLPrXug&t” align=”center”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]