ECM Partnerships in 2009

 

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.

 

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.

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

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.

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.