By Carrie Stanziola

This upcoming Saturday marks the Somerville Housing Coalition’s sixth annual benefit for the homeless, and the third time the event will be held at the Arts at the Armory.  This year, the benefit will honor retiring Tufts president Larry Bacow, as well as Tufts University itself, as the Coalition has enjoyed a wonderful relationship with Tufts since the its inception in 1985, according to Coalition director Mark Alston-Follansbee.  The Amethyst Center, an alternative healing center in Davis Square has also been a tremendous support to the Coalition, Alston-Follansbee adds.

The Coalition is recognizing a staff member with an honor in memory of a worker who died in 2009 and was instrumental in getting their housing program off the ground.  As Alston-Follansbee says, the benefit is also a way to bring people together and express the Coalition’s gratitude, as it could not do the work it does without the support of the community.

Eighty percent of the Coalition’s money comes from grants they receive from the federal and state government.  However, the Coalition is responsible for raising the rest of the money itself, which they do a number of ways, including a yearly road race in Davis Square.  These events, says Alston-Follansbee, are also a way to let Somerville residents know about the center and to thank them for its support.

At last count, there were 153 homeless families and individuals in shelters, in transition or on the street.  Alston-Follansbee adds that there are at least as many hidden homeless who “couch surf” and thus can’t be counted.  Much of the coalition’s work is to keep people from becoming homeless in the first place, which is better for them as well as less expensive.

The Coalition was founded in 1985 by neighbors, community activists, university students, faith-based leaders, business supporters and city officials in response the rising rate of homelessness within Somerville.

In addition to such emergency response programs as an adult shelter, family shelter, food program and individual case management services, the Coalition focuses on “housing first” with such programs as homeless prevention and affordable housing with home-based supportive services to benefit the most at-risk homeless individuals and families in the Somerville community.