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The MetroWest Interfaith Hospitality Network of Massachusetts is a cooperative, interfaith partnership offering hope to homeless families with children through safe transitional shelter, meals, and supportive case management as they seek permanent housing.
Homelessness is a very complex problem with many faces. No community is spared and no one program is the answer. The president and founder of Family Promise and the Interfaith Hospitality Network program, Karen Olson, said that "It's not that people don't care; they do. It's that they need a way to help." The MetroWest IHN of Massachusetts is a way to practically harness and then effectively unleash the empathy and energy of hundreds of caring people to be there for our fellow MetroWest families who are going through a period of crisis -- having recently lost their homes.
THE NEED
A recent report by the Department of Education estimates that on any given day in Massachusetts at least 40,800 school-aged children, as well as an estimated 40,000 pre-school children are homeless. That is more than five times the number of children in the state's emergency shelter system.
Why are there so many homeless children?
Research shows the reason is economic. In 2007 Massachusetts surpassed California as the most expensive housing market in America. On September 29th of 2007, the Boston Globe reported that "In Massachusetts, lenders filed a record 19,487 initial notices of foreclosure in 2006, and are on track to exceed that in 2007".
To live unsubsidized in the Boston area, a family of three must earn more than $51,000. The minimum wage is $6.75; a single parent family at that rate would need to work more than 150 hours. An hourly wage of approximately $22.00 is needed. That puts many low-income families at risk --- they are one layoff, one illness, one condominium conversion, one accident, one divorce, and one significant rise in their adjustable rate mortgage away from homelessness.
Why are the homeless families not all in state shelters?
Many families do not qualify for a shelter because they earn too much money. A family of four must earn less than 130% of the federal poverty level --- approximately, $26,000.
They must either take a pay cut or quit their jobs in order to be eligible for a shelter.
A lot of homeless families face this dilemma --- they don't qualify for a shelter because they earn too much money, yet they don't earn enough to sustain housing.
Moreover, some families choose to avoid shelters even if they do qualify. For a variety of reasons -- especially concerns about what is best for their children -- some choose to live out of their cars, in public transit areas, or perhaps, if the weather is good, in tents.
Furthermore, there are not enough beds to house all homeless families and individuals, and some shelters have waiting lists.
Currently, there are three successful networks operating in Massachusetts: in Worcester, Sturbridge and Leominster/Fitchburg. The MetroWest Interfaith Hospitality Network will be the fourth.
For more information, please see the parent organization's Web site at www.familypromise.org.
Additional Outreach Opportunities
THE WOMEN'S LUNCH PLACE
For more than 25 years The Women's Lunch Place has provided a safe, comfortable place for Boston's poor and homeless women during the day. They serve a nutritious breakfast and lunch Monday through Saturday to more than 100 women and they are located in the Back Bay area of the city. They also provide the women a place to shower, do laundry, read quietly or nap. The Women's Lunch Place website is www.womenslunchplace.org.
Since 1991 the Dover Church has included The Women's Lunch Place in its outreach, starting with ten women who each month made a Corn Bread Chili Casserole in their home kitchens, which were then transported into Boston. At present we have 16 women making the casseroles once a month from September through June. The casseroles are enthusiastically received by the volunteers and the women being served.
We welcome anyone wishing to join this outreach! Please call the church office at 508-785-0957, leave a name, and you will be contacted. Thank you for your support of this important outreach mission.
April 2010
The Social Concerns Committee is in charge of all outreach programs, both local and worldwide. The Dover Church contributes financially to the following organizations and programs for those in need:
Programs that support youth
Associated Early Care & Education Walker School
Dover/Sherborn Reachout Camp Jabberwocky
City Mission Society-Summer Camp A Step Tutoring Program
Teen Empowerment
Programs that support Families & Women
Pathways Shadows
WIN Haven Shelter Place To Turn
Advocates Inter-faith Aids Ministry
Women’s Lunch Place Stanley-Tippet Home
Walpole VNA Rosie’s Place
Solutions at Work
Programs that Support Church Ministry
Our Church’s Wider Mission City Mission Society
Eliot Church Heifer Project
Maine Seacoast Missionary Pastor’s Discretionary Fund
Walker Center
Programs offering Emergency Assistance
Dover Fuel Assistance
Doctors without Borders
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