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A
collaborative, which is lead by the Somerville Community Corporation,
was given the $50,000 award by the Metro Boston Network to end
homelessness. ~Photo Courtesy of Somerville Community Corporation |
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By Aaron Crear
A
Somerville based community development organization has been named as
one of twelve local agencies to receive financial awards to continue
their missions to fight homelessness in collaboration with four other
local agencies. The collaborative, which is lead by the Somerville
Community Corporation, was given the $50,000 award by the Metro Boston
Network to End Homelessness. The initiative is part of the Metro Boston
Housing Partnership's efforts to prevent homelessness in the Greater
Boston area. The organization provides support programs to individuals
and families who are in danger of becoming or are already left without
housing.
"The Somerville Tenancy Preservation Collaborative
developed a strong proposal because it is cooperative in nature and
consistent with the mission of the Network to coordinate efforts," said
MBHP Executive Director Chris Norris. "It is a joint initiative among
Somerville Community Corporation, which is the lead agency, and
Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services, Community Action Agency of
Somerville, Somerville Homeless Coalition, and Somerville Mental Health
Association." The group's main focus is to provide assistance to people
before they reach the point of eviction. "It is our hope that this
initiative will create a uniformed system where landlords could make
direct referrals to our organizations and we could work with these
families to get services and resources in place at a very early stage
before they are in crisis that would assist them in not only
maintaining their housing but addressing the areas that are preventing
them from becoming self-sufficient", said SCC staff member, Stacey
Pires.
The SCC provides assistance in several areas including
financial assistance for delinquent rent and utility payments,
mediation and negotiation with landlords, housing search and
placements, and personal budgeting and credit management. The
collaborative applied for the MBHP's funding to enhance its already
extensive offerings. "A lot of these residents had very large arrears
when they finally walked through our doors that caused us to have to
leverage additional funds and services through other agencies just to
stabilize. After many conversations we decided that we could provide
direct service at these sites so that residents could access our
services and receive help before getting to the stage of eviction of to
a point where they could not help themselves", said Pires. The funds
awarded will be directly used to aid residents of Somerville. It is the
aim of the collaborative to impact recipients prior to shelters
becoming their only option.
The Metro Boston Network gave out
awards to 12 organizations totaling $470,000. In addition, the Network
also has $465,729 in emergency flexible funds available to the agencies
and partners to leverage staff services and help residents obtain and
retain housing. Once the contracts are finalize and accepted they will
last 18 months beginning on July 1, 2009.
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