Father Bill’s & MainSpring
About:
For 25 years, Father Bill’s & MainSpring has led innovations to end, not just manage, homelessness, with programs that shelter and re-connect people to housing, jobs and services. Last year, they helped 4,000 households (families, individuals, veterans, elders, students, the working poor, and women fleeing domestic violence) access safe shelter, receive a meal, get medical help, gain housing, find jobs, remain in their homes, or move beyond homelessness.
Their two individual adult shelters, Father Bill’s Place, Quincy and MainSpring House, Brockton, shelter 2,000+ men and women annually. These are the only year-round, low-threshold shelters for homeless individuals in the South Shore, Southeastern Massachusetts region. No one is turned away, unless there is a safety issue. Rising demand, however, is overwhelming their capacity. Public funding barely covers the basics of shelter and they have been level-funded for years. In fact, 54% of their beds must be privately funded. They are challenged to meet the basic emergency shelter and food needs of those in the community who are struggling with homelessness, poverty and food insecurity.
Father Bill’s & MainSpring welcomes your generous support, especially this winter season. When cold weather strikes, our doors open wide for those in need — providing the most vulnerable with safe shelter, warm meals, caring staff and hope for a brighter future.
Emergency Shelter: They shelter 225+ men and women each night at their adult shelters. Winter brings more people inside, meaning many guests must sleep on cots or blankets. Today, Father Bill’s Place, Quincy, is experiencing extreme overcrowding. Each night, the must transport guests from Quincy to their other adult shelter, MainSpring House, in Brockton, which is a larger facility. What began as a short-term response on cold nights is, unfortunately, now a part of our everyday operations.
How your support can help:
Your support will make sure each person has a safe place to stay, receives nutritious meals, and engages with Triage Staff to access individualized services to help them move on. Your support will also help purchase critical personal items for guests that are now in extremely short supply, including: towels, washcloths, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and deodorant. They also welcome donations of new coats, gloves, scarves and warm socks.
“I have to say that I hit rock bottom. I was homeless and unemployed for over a year. I was sleeping outdoors and eating out of dumpsters and trashcans. My Triage Worker saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself…They inspired me and I worked my heart out for them. I started going to classes on computers, resume writing and classes for starting a small business and got a full time job.”
Shelter Guest
Emergency Food — The Table: Many in the community must choose between buying food for their families and paying rent. Father Bill’s & MainSpring is ensuring that our neighbors do not go hungry. The Table, the community lunch program at MainSpring House in Brockton, serves 130+ free lunches a day, six days a week (47,748 meals last year), to neighbors in need. Each guest is seated at a round table for easy conversation, and is individually served. Volunteers, staff and guests get to know one another over a hot meal, served with dignity and respect.
How your support can help:
Your support will help purchase food and supplies so that each person who comes to the door receives a healthy meal. For many, this may be their only meal that day.
“We get to know these people; they become like ‘our kids’. You worry when they don’t show up. We know who is living in a tent and who isn’t. You especially worry about them on the days it snows. We look for them, and give them sandwiches to take out. We see generations…grandfathers, fathers, sons. We now have two child booster seats, and sometimes even that’s not enough. I feel that The Table is saving a lot of people that live on the margins from really going under. “
-Volunteer Coordinator, The Table