Social Action Massachusetts Past Events

MARCH AND APRIL 2011

Coming Home: Faith and the Challenge of Ending Homelessness in Massachusetts

On three evenings during Lent, the Massachusetts Bible Society and Social Action Ministries hosted three-part look at the problem of homelessness in Massachusetts, Biblical responses and the ways faith communities can become involved in working for a solution. The sessions met at Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church in Cambridge and included a presentation from the Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau, a bible study led by the Massachusetts Bible Society and an advocacy discussion led by representatives from One Family, Inc. and Social Action Ministries.

The Massachusetts Bible Society promotes biblical literacy and provides a safe place to explore the Bible in the context of the many voices of Christian interpretation. Social Action Ministries, a program of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance, encourages the involvement of people of diverse religious and ethical commitments in efforts to end homelessness.

For more information about how you can host a program like this in your community, contact Caitlin Golden at cgolden@mhsa.net or 617-367-6447 ext. 28.

Ending Youth Homelessness: Education for Action @ The Crossing

Youth homelessness is gaining increasing attention from advocates, faith communities, service providers and other concerned individuals. Many homeless youth identify as LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender), and homeless youth face a variety of unique challenges. By understanding the size, demographics and failed systems of care leading to homelessness, we can create better programs to help this population escape homelessness. Now is the time for us to take action to support solutions to youth homelessness so that a new generation of homeless individuals does not take the place of the old.

The Crossing, a faith community at The Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston, has made a commitment to action, recognizing that living their faith in the world means bringing about justice for all people. The Crossing and other guests gathered on Thursday, March 24, to hear from Robb Zarges, Executive Director of Bridge Over Troubled Waters, speak his organization’s response to youth homelessness. Caitlin Golden, Social Action Ministries Coordinator, invited attendees to consider how their faith community could help change the public discourse about homelessness to focus on support for housing solutions.

Is your faith community interested in hosting an educational event about ending homelessness? Contact Caitlin Golden at cgolden@mhsa.net or 617-367-6447 ext. 28 for more information.

A Call to Action: Interfaith Support for Housing First for Families
On Wednesday, March 2, faith community representatives, service providers and advocates gathered at University Lutheran Church in Cambridge.  The event, hosted by Social Action Ministries and One Family, Inc., focused on the Patrick-Murray Administration’s plan to implement a Housing First solution to family homelessness in Massachusetts.

Gail Bucher (pictured at left) of University Lutheran Church opened the event with a reflection. Emily Cohen, Associate Director for Policy and Advocacy at One Family, Inc., spoke about the unsustainability of the current response to family homelessness, noting that the Commonwealth is spending nearly $160 million on Emergency Assistance (EA), while over 2,000 homeless families are living in shelters and over 1,000 homeless families are living in motels in Massachusetts.

Michelle Auterio (pictured at right), a One Family Scholar alumna, then shared her personal experience being sheltered in a motel while she and her family were homeless. Her moving story provided the basis for her call to support reforming the EA system so that families like hers have access to housing supports rather than merely shelter or motel placements.

Liz Curtis Rogers (pictured at left), Executive Director of the Massachusetts Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness, presented the Patrick-Murray Administration’s proposal for reforming the family shelter system, stressing the proposal’s focus on housing responses to family homelessness. Denise Durham Williams, Executive Director of One Family, Inc., concluded the evening with a call to action, asking faith communities to help make change possible by reaching out to their legislators in support of the Administration’s EA reform proposal.

If your faith community would like to take action to support reform through a postcard campaign or other avenues, please contact Emily Cohen at ecohen@onefamilyinc.org or 617-423-0504 ext. 205.

OCTOBER 2010

Leading the Way: Ending Homelessness in Boston, held at Temple Israel, was a half-day retreat hosted by Social Action Ministries and the Boston Regional Network to End Homelessness, with the support of Episcopal City Mission, One Family Inc. and The Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation.

The event began with a reflection from Alex Levering Kern, Executive Director of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries. Evelyn Friedman, Director of the City of Boston's Department of Neighborhood Development and Chief of Housing, shared information about homelessness in Boston and the City of Boston's response. Megan Dolan, Network Coordinator of the Boston Regional Network to End Homelessness, then spoke specifically about initiatives to end homelessness in the Boston region.

Elizabeth Curtis Rogers, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness, moderated a panel on how faith communities can become involved in ending homelessness. Panelists included Lyndia Downie, President and Executive Director of Pine Street Inn, Naomi Sweitzer, Assistant Executive Director of HomeStart, Inc., The Reverend Kathy McAdams, Executive Director of Ecclesia Ministries / common cathedral, and Caitlin Golden, Social Action Ministries Coordinator of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA). Panelists discussed many different avenues for faith community involvement in ending homelessness, including education, providing welcome baskets for new tenants, community support for new housing projects to move homeless individuals and families into housing, advocacy for policies that focus on long-term solutions and referring homeless individuals and families in one's faith community to Housing First programs.

After a lunch catered by HomePlate, a social enterprise of MHSA Member Agency Project Place, The Reverend Hurmon E. Hamilton, Jr. gave an inspiring talk about his "surprise discovery" that in spite of his already "full plate," God was calling him to work to end homelessness—an issue that touches many of the other issues in which he was already engaged, including health care reform and CORI issues. Rev. Hamilton asked attendees to "be the answer to God's prayer" and to work to end the homelessness of families and individuals. Rev. Hamilton is the Senior Pastor of Roxbury Presbyterian Church USA and the President of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization.

The half-day retreat concluded with small group discussions about the relationship between faith and social justice, the talks from the morning and next steps for faith communities in Boston to get involved in ending homelessness.

The Reverend Hurmon E. Hamilton, Jr. encourages people of faith to "be the answer to God's prayer."

Evelyn Friedman, Director of the City of Boston's Department of Neighborhood Development and Chief of Housing, and Lucy Warsh, Director of Media Relations for the City of Boston's Department of Neighborhood Development

Faith community members, service providers and advocates discuss ways that faith communities can be involved in ending homelessness.

To view more photos, click here.

JUNE 2010

The Metro Boston Faith-Based Advisory Council to End Homelessness convened a strategy meeting of faith communities, advocates and service providers at Christ Church Episcopal in Waltham to formulate next steps for interfaith efforts to end homelessness in the Metro Boston region. Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, Social Action Ministries, the Waltham Ministerial Association and the Advocacy Network to End Family Homelessness sponsored the event. Attendees participated in brainstorming sessions about strategies for faith community engagement in ending homelessness, including advocacy and education, homelessness prevention, housing stabilization and support for affordable housing.

For information about how to become involved in the Metro Boston Faith-Based Advisory Council to End Homelessness or similar collaborations in your region of Massachusetts, please contact Caitlin Golden, 617.367.6447 ext. 28.

MARCH 2010

An Interfaith Call to Action: Community Forum on Housing and Homelessness

Faith communities, service providers and advocates from Waltham, the Metro Boston region and beyond gathered in March at Immanuel Methodist Church in Waltham for “An Interfaith Call to Action: Community Forum on Housing and Homelessness.” The forum was sponsored by Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, Social Action Ministries, the Waltham Ministerial Association, the Advocacy Network to End Family Homelessness and many other organizations dedicated to encouraging faith community involvement in efforts to end homelessness. For a complete list of forum sponsors, see below.

After opening prayers from Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Unitarian Universalist leaders, keynote speaker Representative Byron Rushing shared insights regarding the recent history of responses to homelessness in Massachusetts and the need for permanent housing to end homelessness.

After Representative Rushing’s engaging remarks, a panel including speakers from Social Action Ministries, One Family Inc., HomeStart, Inc., the Waltham Alliance to Create Housing (WATCH) and the Waltham Community Day Center spoke on efforts to end homelessness and ways faith communities can get involved. Mayor of Waltham Jeannette A. McCarthy and a legislative aide from the office of Representative Peter J. Koutoujian also shared remarks, and a closing prayer was offered from the Christian tradition.

For more information about ways to get involved in efforts to end homelessness in the Metro Boston region, contact Caitlin Golden of Social Action Ministries at cgolden@mhsa.net or Alex Kern of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries at akern@coopmet.org.

Waltham Forum Sponsors: Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, Waltham Ministerial Association, Metro Boston Faith-Based Advisory Council to End Homelessness, Social Action Ministries of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance,  Advocacy Network to End Family Homelessness, Metro Boston Network to End Homelessness, Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership Inc., Community Day Center of Waltham, Brandeis University Protestant Chaplaincy, Chaplains on the Way, Newton Clergy Association, First Parish of Needham, Wellesley Friends Meeting Social Concerns Committee, HomeStart, Inc., Unitarian Universalist MA Action Network, REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, Inc., and the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association

Governor Deval Patrick reversed the 9C cut to the Homeless Individuals Assistance line item (7004- 0102).  Thanks to all of you across Massachusetts who demonstrated so clearly in the last few weeks your dedication to our homeless neighbors.  In the face of the cut to the Homeless Individuals Assistance line item, you called others to action from your pulpits and through your volunteer programs, and you passed on that call to action to your state officials.  Your advocacy made a difference, and your efforts remind us all of the changes that can come when we work together to speak out for those among us without homes.

MARCH 2009

Faith communities in Lowell kicked off the month of March with The Greater Lowell Interfaith Forum on Homelessness, hosted by Christ Church United of Lowell, The S.H.I.F.T. Coalition, Social Action Ministries, Eliot Presbyterian Church, New England Prison Ministries, One Family, Inc. and the Lowell Transitional Living Center.

Lt. Governor Timothy P. Murray and The Reverend Liz Walker gave the keynote addresses. Lt. Governor Murray spoke about his experience as a housing search worker and stressed the Patrick-Murray administration’s commitment to ending homelessness. Rev. Walker shared compelling stories about the relationship between her faith and her call to the ministry and social action, urging forum participants to view these times of economic hardship as an opportunity for social action.

The forum also included a panel discussion on specific opportunities for faith communities to get involved in ending homelessness. The panel was composed of Lowell City Manager Bernie Lynch, Rev. Debbie Little Wyman, founder of Ecclesia Ministries, Libby Hayes of Homes for Families, Brent Rourke of the SHIFT Coalition, Alan Burt from Cape Cod and Caitlin Golden of Social Action Ministries.

FEBRUARY 2009

In late February, St. Joseph Parish in Kingston hosted a Social Action Ministries presentation for members of their community. MHSA Executive Director Joe Finn spoke about the faith-based roots of many homeless service providers in Massachusetts and explained the significance of the Commonwealth’s transition from a focus on emergency shelter to a focus on permanent housing.  Members of the parish asked questions about a variety of issues, including ways for young people to get involved in ending homelessness.

JANUARY 2009

Social Action Ministries of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance, in collaboration with Episcopal City Mission, One Family, Inc., and United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley held “A Faith Community Summit on Homelessness,” a dinner forum and discussion on the ways faith communities can be effective partners to end homelessness in Massachusetts. The dinner, catered by Forklift Catering, was held at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Framingham.

After an introduction by The Rev. Julie Carson of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, The Rt. Rev. Gayle Harris (pictured, right), Suffragan Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts kicked off the event by placing the mission of ending homelessness in the context of her own faith commitment.

Robert Pulster, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness (ICHH), introduced the ICHH’s regional approach to ending homelessness in Massachusetts and discussed the proposed move of homeless services from the Department of Transitional Assistance to the Department of Housing and Community Development.

In closing, Rev. Bob Bachelder, Co-Chair of The Interfaith Coalition to End Family Homelessness: Central Massachusetts, shared his experiences with the program Hope for Housing and encouraged faith communities to take action to prevent homelessness.

Participants also had the opportunity to connect with other faith leaders and homeless service providers and advocates from their area to brainstorm ways congregations and faith-based organizations can be effective regional partners in ending homelessness.

If you are interested in having a speaker talk with your faith community about ending homelessness, contact Caitlin Golden at cgolden@mhsa.net or 617.367.6447 ext. 28.

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