Father Bills & Mainspring Inc

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, FBMS has not had a gap in services. Our doors have continued to remain open during the pandemic. Early on in the pandemic FBMS had to act quickly to depopulate our individual adult emergency shelters. FBMS is operating depopulation sites across several hotels through fiscal year 2022. These sites continue to be important to shelter people safely and minimize infection rates, especially in Brockton, one of the communities hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. Daily cleaning and sanitization protocols, symptom screening, vaccine access, testing, quarantining and isolation protocols also contribute to FBMS’ continued success in providing shelter and services to the most vulnerable individuals. In FY21 FBMS served 4,421 total people. FBMS sheltered an average of 234 individuals nightly in the region’s four shelters for homeless individuals. Of the individuals served in shelter, 9% were veterans; 9% were young adults (18-24); and 21% were elders (60+). 223,480 total meals were served (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) across the shelter sites in Quincy and Brockton. Twenty-four percent of the individuals in shelter exited to housing. FBMS operated 580 units of permanent housing, and 636 unduplicated households were served in FBMS housing during FY21; on average, 99% stayed housed for at least one year. Performance goals include transforming our emergency shelter response into a Housing Resource Center model, increasing homelessness prevention and diversion efforts, and the continued investment in permanent solutions, including increasing inventory of permanent housing units.

Housing Resource Center Model: FBMS is transitioning from a traditional emergency shelter response to a service-delivery model focused on immediate assessment, connection with housing opportunities or other systems of care, with the goal to reduce shelter stay or avoid it altogether. By integrating a wide variety of support services, housing options, and staff resources in a single location FBMS intends to reduce the need for emergency shelter. FBMS plans to construct Housing Resource Centers in service hubs of Quincy and Brockton to offer an array of day services, and community supports designed to connect with people at-risk or experiencing homelessness and develop a tailored plan to stabilize their housing situations and ultimately move individuals to greater self-sufficiency.

Housing: More than a decade ago, the FBMS board and staff decided that to advance our mission of ending homelessness we needed to do more than provide shelter; we needed to create housing. FBMS committed itself to providing housing for the most vulnerable populations it serves: high need people experiencing homelessness. Our explicit priority has been to develop housing for those who require permanent supportive housing, housing combined with wraparound supports to ensure success and stability in housing. This type of housing is generally not provided by the mainstream affordable housing sector. FBMS will undertake an ambitious plan to increase permanent supporting housing inventory, which will aid in the success of the housing resource center. In the next 2 to 3 years, FBMS expects to operate a total of 720 permanent supportive housing (PSH) units across Southern MA.

Community Relations: FBMS continues to strengthen its community relations plan to "tell our story" more effectively. Aimed at enhancing the community's understanding of our mission and scope of services, the plan makes clear our value as a community partner in ending homelessness. A key part of the plan is educating key stakeholders and the general public about our innovative Housing Resource Center model and our growing housing portfolio.

For nearly 40 years, FBMS has led innovations to end homelessness, with programs that shelter and connect people to housing, jobs, and services. FBMS has been nationally recognized as a Housing First agency since 2005 and has evolved from a single service provider of family and individual emergency shelters to a comprehensive regional service provider operating in 41 cities and towns in Southeastern Massachusetts. FBMS has a proven ability to leverage funds from diverse sources, with a yearly operating budget of $35 million. Funding is comprised of state funds (40%), federal funds (40%), and private, in-kind, and earned income (20%). Private sources include dozens of leading foundations, corporate leaders, and thousands of individual supporters and community volunteers. FBMS is led by a CEO and four-person executive team. The agency has eleven departments, each led by a director. Goals are developed by department on an annual basis and informed by FBMS’ Strategic Plan, which is developed on a 3-5 year basis in coordination with FBMS executive leadership and board members. FBMS’ Board of Directors meets bi-monthly and is an engaged volunteer board, comprised of a cross-section of community members from across the region including local business owners, the religious community, and former program participants. Our Board Development Committee meets with potential board members to ensure a diverse representation of leadership that is consistent with the makeup of the community and complementary to our mission. Financial accounting practices include a Chief Financial Officer who is a Certified Public Accountant, Board Review, and outside audits.

Housing Resource Center (HRC) Model: The HRC now under construction in Quincy will include a day facility, a new service-delivery model, and 30 units of on-site PSH. We have plans to replicate the same model in Brockton, with construction expected to begin in Fall 2022.

Emergency Shelter for Individuals: FBMS currently operates two congregate individual shelters, Father Bill’s Place (Quincy) and MainSpring House (Brockton) and depopulation shelter sites. In FY21 FBMS sheltered an average of 234 individuals nightly across all shelters. All shelters are open 24 hours per day/7 days per week and are low threshold, accepting any person in need ages 18 and over. Services include shelter, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, onsite health clinics, case management, and assistance with rapid exit to housing or long-term treatment. Emergency Shelter for Families: FBMS operates two congregate shelters and units of scattered site shelter for 136 homeless families nightly.

Diversion and Prevention: FBMS provides diversion and prevention to both individuals and families and is the regional Tenancy Preservation Program provider.

Housing: FBMS has developed a a portfolio of 580 affordable housing units, with a yearly housing retention rate of 99%. FBMS has over 80 units of permanent housing for families.

Even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic FBMS has not only kept our doors open but has also expanded our housing capacity and services with two new projects: Conversion of the Rodeway Inn depopulation site to PSH and construction of the Yawkey Housing Resource Center in Quincy, expected to open in 2023.

Housing Resource Center Model: FBMS is transitioning from a traditional emergency shelter model to a one location Housing Resource Center facility focused on immediate assessment and rapid exit to housing or other systems of care. The Yawkey Housing Resource Center will include a day facility, including a commercial kitchen for community meals, a full-service health clinic, partner resources, a smaller emergency shelter, and 30 units of on-site PSH. The purpose of this model is to assess individuals at risk of or experiencing homelessness in one location and provide connection to resources that help them return to housing as rapidly as possible. FBMS intends to do this by engaging with individuals as soon as they make contact with our program, create a tailored rehousing plan, and connect them to appropriate resources in the community in real time. The new model was intentionally developed so that shelter diversion is possible or the length of stay is brief. Last year 24% of individuals exited to housing and 11% exited to another appropriate system of care (such as a substance use disorder treatment facility, hospital, or nursing home). As homelessness and the cost of living continue to rise, FBMS has developed other evidence-based practice models across the spectrum including homelessness prevention, eviction prevention, rapid re-housing, healthy meals programs, supportive housing, and job training programs. Each of these are being implemented now and will be an increasingly significant part of the service delivery continuum at the Housing Resource Center. FBMS is planning a similar facility in Brockton over the next 3 years.

Permanent Housing: In FY21, FBMS operated 580 permanent housing units, either owned or leased by FBMS. From FY20 to FY21, we increased our housing portfolio from 496 to 580 units (an increase of 84 units). In April 2021, FBMS purchased the Rodeway Inn, our depopulation site in Brockton. This project will convert motel rooms into 69 units of PSH for individuals and is expected to be occupied by spring 2022. The first 24 individuals have recently transitioned into the new units. The Yawkey Housing Resource Center will provide 30 units of on-site PSH once it opens.

Community Relations: FBMS has established a Community Relations division of its Development department that includes a Community Relations Director and Communications Associate. In recent years we have increased our visibility in the press, expanded our reach on social media, upgraded our website and print collateral, and expanded our Speakers Bureau to accommodate approximately 65 speaking engagements per year.