News
ECM partners to engage the faith community in ending homelessness
During the summer of 2009 Episcopal City Mission, One Family Inc. and the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation joined together to release a Request for Proposals inviting groups to develop and implement a plan to organize the faith community within local Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness (ICHH) regional networks across Massachusetts.
To date, seven regions across the state have been awarded grants. The following is a summary of those grants awarded to regions across the state.
1. Region: City of Boston
The grant was awarded to the Social Action Ministries (SAM) program of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance. SAM has a long history of working with houses of worship in the city of Boston on issues of housing and homelessness. They have a three point approach to how to expand faith-based participation in the Boston Region.
- Create a faith based advisory group that will develop a plan to involve faith communities in the Boston Network
- Educate faith communities about homelessness and help them access the resources necessary to become both skilled first responders to households in need of housing services and better advocates for systems change.
- Implement pilot programs (e.g. Circles of Support and Accountability) that draw on the specific talents and resources that faith communities can contribute to the Boston Network’s mission of ending homelessness.
2. Region: Metro Boston (26 cities and towns West and North of Boston)
This grant was awarded to Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, an interfaith organization working in collaboration with several other interfaith groups in the Metro Boston and Boston region. Their goal is to lay the groundwork for an effective faith based network that will extend beyond the period of funding offered by this grant and can make a significant long-term impact in the areas of Housing First, Diversion and Prevention, and Affordable Housing Development.
The Metro Boston Faith-Based Advisory Council intends to achieve the following goals:
- Identify faith communities, leaders, and agencies committed to, or interested in, interfaith work around homelessness and develop a current database of contacts.
- Develop a strategic plan to engage faith communities in the Metro Boston region with the work of ending homelessness, connecting this work with the Metro Boston Network of the ICHH
- Conduct a mapping of existing (and potential) faith community assets and assess ways best to connect these assets with efforts to end homelessness and the work of the Metro Boston Network.
- Design pilot community-based programs/events that can be replicated successfully in congregations across the Metro Boston region and beyond
3. Region: North Shore
The grant was awarded to the North Shore Community Action Agency, a co-convener for North Shore region. They plan to create an Interfaith Advisory Council, chaired by a local clergy member who has already signed on and is a member of the North Shore’s Leadership Council.
With the grant funds they will hire a consultant who has experience working with faith communities. This consultant will work with the Interfaith Advisory group to:
- Plan and host trainings for volunteers and employees of faith based groups to help them respond to the needs of the homeless in their communities
- Locate available funds and resources from houses of worship.
- Connect faith based organizations across their three sub-regions allowing advocates to better serve the families and individuals at risk of and experiencing homelessness.
4. Region: Pioneer Valley (Western Massachusetts)
The grant was awarded to Milestone Ministries an interdenominational Christian non-profit organization that runs the Springfield winter overflow shelter and engages in weekly outreach during the winter months. Milestone Ministries working closely with two other clergy who are deeply engaged in the work of the Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness will hire two interns with these funds. The goal of these interns will be to:
- Set up four introductory forums—one in each of the counties of the region—where faith-based communities will come together and learn about the regional effort to end homelessness.
- Will research faith-based initiatives directed toward prevention and rapid re-housing from around the country. They will work with the steering committee to identify the best strategies and models, and to begin to create recommendations for initiatives for the region to take on.
- The interns will work with the steering committee to plan a ½ day meeting in September, to which faith-based communities from the region will be invited. At this meeting, there will be presentations about proposed initiatives for the region, selection of initiative(s) and initial planning to move these initiatives to implementation
5. Region: Greater Worcester
The grant was awarded to the Worcester Area Mission Society, its’ Executive Director, a member of Worcester Interfaith Coalition to End Homelessness (WICEH), will also be the chair of the Worcester region’s Interfaith Advisory Council. An active faith community who is already engaged in the work to end homelessness, this group will take on several initiatives with their grant money. They are working to:
- Ensure that there is a member of the faith community appointed to Worcester’s Leadership Council.
- Bring together the many faith based groups and programs that are operating in the Greater Worcester area with the goal to streamline the services that many of these groups offer low income families.
- Work to expand the amount of congregations and faith based groups participating in WICEH’s Hope for Housing program and its’ support of homeless prevention programs at the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance.
- Increase faith community participation in the Community Loan Fund, which provides capital for housing development and neighborhood renewal.
6. Region: Merrimack Valley
This grant was awarded to the SHIFT Coalition, a program housed at Community Teamwork Inc. in Lowell. The SHIFT coalition is the convening partner of theGreater Lowell Interfaith Partnership to End Homelessness (GLIPH) an interfaith group recently formed from interest in the community to address issues of homelessness. They believe that the faith community can address this issue in three ways: direct care, homelessness prevention, and legislative advocacy.
The grant money for this group will be spent to fund the design, development, and hosting of a website that will be up and running by October 2009. This web site will provide resources to support the priorities of the Greater Lowell Interfaith Partnership to end Homelessness (GLIPH) in concert with the goals and objectives of the ICHH/Merrimack Valley Regional Network to End Homelessness:
- Direct care for the homeless, the marginally housed, and those with “food security” issues.
- Prevention of homelessness through identification of people at risk and the online acceptance of donations for homelessness prevention and intervention where necessary.
- Advocacy through education and legislative action at the local, regional, and state levels.
7. Region: Cape Cod and Islands
The grant was awarded to the Council of Churches of Cape Cod, the Executive Director, sits on the Cape Cod Regional Leadership Council and played a significant role in the preparation of the Cape’s regional plan. The Council is a founding member of the Cape Cod Interfaith Coalition, and an active partner working with multiple faith based programs on the Cape supporting those in need.
This grant will provide funds to the Council of Churches to sustain its successful efforts bringing the Cape’s faith communities together through a series of In-Gatherings. These events convened by the Council of Churches have proved to be most efficient and successful in informing the faith community about the importance of its role and responsibility to best serve the needs of the homeless, homeless prevention strategies, and affordable housing.
The Council will also use funds to raise resources for the most significant service lacking on Cape Cod, affordable housing. They will work to educate and raise funds for the Housing Assistance Corporation of Cape Cod, Habitat for Humanity, Overnights of Hospitality, Salvation Army, NOAH Shelter, and other essential housing programs.
For more information about these grants please contact:
Katie Campbell Simons at Episcopal City Mission
Continue Reading…
Posted by Lucena Daley on Oct 26, 2009
Thanks to support from BUF….
A community land trust working to build affordable housing for extremely low income families in Lawrence, Bread and Roses Housing (BRH), expanded their staff. True to the memory of the “Bread and Roses” labor strike of 1912, BHR is founded on the principles of human dignity and economic justice. This past year BRH hired part time staff person whose focus is Family Support, Education and Advocacy. As a BRH homeowner who has shown remarkable leadership and initiative in her involvement with BRH on a volunteer basis, she joins the staff to help them focus and expand the family empowerment portion of their mission.
T Riders Union (TRU), the only organization of its kind in Boston and one of very few in the county, continues to bring together transit riders from low income communities for first class service. Together with its partners in the On the Move coalition, the TRU distributed over 15,000 flyers since January 2009. As a result of this outreach more than 20 new people have begun attending TRU meetings and 11 new dues-paying TRU members. TRU also held numerous public education events and outreach days to raise awareness of the MBTA’s fiscal problems, and of looming fare increases and service cuts.
For 32 years the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) has been working for full equality and empowerment Greater Boston’s Chinese community. Last year 339 workers were provided assistance from the CPA through their drop-in services. From these initial visits and “coffee hour” sessions a stable core of consistent members emerged, who were invited to participate in the Workers Center Committee in order to play a bigger role in planning activities and organizing campaigns for the Workers Center.
Over 250 people learned how to request a copy of their Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI), how to read and understand it, how to determine whether or not their CORI could be sealed and how to seal it, thanks to a CORI Sealing Day event held by the Union of Minority Neighborhoods (UMN). UMN, based in Boston, is working to ensure that skilled, committed, grassroots leaders of color, effectively organize on issues of concern in their communities, regions and nation. Due to demand UMN now does CORI sealings two evenings a month; trains law students and lawyers in sealing records and works closely with Greater Boston Legal Services whose lawyers do the legal follow up.
By engaging the community in higher lever conversations about housing issues, the Waltham Alliance to Create Housing (WATCH), a community development corporation, is providing a deeper level of insight to the issue and instilling in Waltham residents an understanding of why this issues matters to them that they can apply to any specific housing issue. They have also hosted public meetings to discuss housing issues in Waltham at three local houses of worship, a drop in center for adults with mental illness, the Senior Center, and the community health center.
The Burgess Urban Fund is a program of Episcopal City Mission.
For more information contact:
Continue Reading…
Posted by Lucena Daley on Oct 26, 2009
Luncheon Forum "Share Learn and Celebrate" - A Success!
On Saturday May 9th Episcopal City Mission (ECM) hosted a luncheon forum, “Share, Learn and Celebrate,” at All Saints Church in Worcester, MA. The goal of the event was to celebrate the incredible work being done across the state by Episcopalians to alleviate and end homelessness. The event was also a time for folks to share how they are engaged in this work and learn from each other how to deepen and expand their involvement in this movement.
Representative Bryon Rushing keynoted the luncheon and spoke to the group about the realities facing the state with the current economic climate. He drove home the fact that now, more than ever, the faith community needs to play a significant role in providing housing and services to those in need. He stated that the faith community can and will play a role in the solution to this crisis, that we need to focus on housing and long term solutions to this crisis. He referred to the state’s Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness (ICHH) and the work that this council has set out to do. To learn more about the ICHH visit: www.mass.gov/governor/ichh
Panelists from congregations across the state shared how their congregations are working on this issue in their cities, towns and regions. Speakers represented churches and their communities from Western Massachusetts, Greater Worcester, Boston, the South Shore and Cape Cod. They talked about building housing for low income families, raising money for homeless prevention programs, providing shelter in their building for the overflow from a nearby city and financially supporting a “housing first” shelter for homeless men who have been living on the street for many years.
Every speaker shared that the experience of working with the homeless has been both educational and inspiring and that an integral piece to the success of this work has been the involvement of the larger community both within their congregation and the wider town/city beyond just their parish.
ECM was glad to host an event in the Diocese of Western Massachusetts and hopes that this is just the beginning of a statewide collaborative effort in this work. To learn more about how your congregation can engage in the work to end homelessness in Massachusetts please call: Katie Campbell Simons at 617-482-4826 ext 224 or email kcsimons@diomass.org
Continue Reading…
Posted by Lucena Daley on Jul 09, 2009
On Tuesday April 28th Episcopal City Mission (ECM) co-hosted a legislative breakfast with Homes for Families (HFF) and the Housing Assistance Corporation of Cape Cod (HAC). For the last two years ECM has funded HFF through the Burgess Urban Fund. HFF’s mission is to advocate on behalf of homeless families and help formerly homeless persons become leaders in the movement to end homelessness in Massachusetts. Each spring during the state’s budget cycle HFF hosts a series of breakfasts across the Commonwealth addressing issues of homelessness and affordable housing. Until this year they had not hosted a breakfast on Cape Cod due to a lack of relationship with an organization on the Cape. ECM was able to bring HFF together with HAC and assisted these two agencies in planning the first annual legislative breakfast on the Cape.
Church of the Holy Spirit, Orleans hosted the event and ECM was glad to see a great turnout of Episcopalians from Holy Spirit and several surrounding communities. Senator Robert O’Leary, who represents the lower Cape, attended and shared his thoughts on affordable housing on Cape Cod. Due to the current economic crisis most of the Cape’s Representatives were unable to attend the breakfasts, but all expressed great interest in learning more about the work happening in their region, and in the state, around ending homelessness.
HAC, HFF and ECM plan to host another breakfast next year with hopes of reaching even more people!
Continue Reading…
Posted by Lucena Daley on Mar 11, 2009
On Thursday January 22nd over 130 people came together at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Framingham to learn, discuss and strategize about ending homelessness in Massachusetts. Episcopal City Mission along with the event’s co-sponsors; One Family, Inc., The Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance and United Way of Mass Bay and the Merrimack Valley have labeled the event a “tremendous success.”
Attendees came from all corners of the state, from the Pioneer Valley to the North Shore and Cape Cod. Included in the crowd were members of Episcopal congregations, shelter providers, affordable housing consultants, state employees, the New England Regional representative from the White House’s Faith Based Initiative’s office, several local elected officials, and the Governor’s Director of Grassroots’ Initiatives.
Bishop Gayle Harris began the program with a rousing welcome and a poignant story about the difficult decision of paying for food or rent that many are facing in these tough economic times. With her words she created a mood of understanding and compassion, and prepared the audience to hear the hope and new innovations being proposed to end this crisis in the Commonwealth.
The keynote was given by Robert Pulster, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness (ICHH). Mr. Pulster gave an overview of the mission of the ICHH and their plans to shift the state’s approach to homelessness from an emergency response to one focused on prevention and long term solutions. He shared how several state programs will be changing their outcome goals to be in line with this mission and that the administration recently awarded 8 regions a total of $8 million to begin working on homeless prevention, housing creation and job growth and stabilization in their communities.
The Rev. Bob Bachelder, the Executive Director of the UCC Central Area Mission Society talked about how his community has collaborated with over 20 congregations in the Hope for Housing program, an initiative that raises unrestricted funds for homeless prevention, through rental assistance, fuel assistance and other forms of support for families at risk of becoming homeless. This program was an excellent example of how the faith community can engage in this work to end homelessness.
The evening concluded with opportunities for attendees to talk with one another, sharing their own experiences, ideas and questions about their role in this work. Discussions were lively and just the beginning! ECM and its partners plan to follow up with all those who participated to provide action steps and even more information on the changes happening at the state level in their communities. Together we can help end homelessness in Massachusetts.
Continue Reading…
Posted by Lucena Daley on Feb 10, 2009
The Burgess Urban Fund (BUF), a grants program of the Episcopal City Mission (ECM), supports organizations that are undertaking grassroots community organizing to create affordable housing, to secure workers’ rights and benefits, and to promote broad access to employment. The fund awards priority grants in the areas mentioned above and also supports special projects in areas of interest to BUF and in line with ECM’s mission.
See the full grant recipient list.
Continue Reading…
Posted by Administrator on Dec 30, 2008
