Um, hi everyone. Um, welcome. You can't made it out despite the cold weather and the snow. So, that's great. We have a nice crowd here. Um, welcome to Triad for March. It's already March, so spring is just around the
corner. We know it. Starting to see signs of spring. I saw I feel like I'm hearing birds more, so that's good. And some Canadian geese. I don't know. See what happens. But, um, I wanted to give
you just an overview of who's coming after today's presentation. So, in April, on April 7th, we have Nicole Long from Old Colony Elder Services. She's going to talk about the programs Old Oak Colony has and they have a lot of
different programs um to offer. Then in May, you don't want to miss this one. John Sheay, he's from InTown. He's going to talk all about the history of Halifax and whatever else he chooses to talk about. But that that
should be really interesting. He's on the historic commission in town. Um not sure about June, but in July we have um
Sarin Oullivan. She's with ADU. It's alternative housing and she >> say that again. >> Choban. >> Okay. I have the spelling wrong, I guess. Um, so anyway, she's due and then
Ken Benton has been working on having the new town administrator come. So, he's hopefully going to come in August, if not before then. So, so that's great. That should be a good one, too, because he's just new this past month or so.
Steven Sobo, I think, is his name. So, um, today we're fortunate to have Tim Tim Young Claus from the Father Bill's place. His office is down in Plymouth, but he's going to tell us about I I don't know if you're going to talk about
Quinsey and Brockton and Okay. And you have in front of you. We ran out of PowerPoint presentations, but is there anyone who doesn't have one that would like one? Yeah. So he it's going to be up here
anyways. So So Tim, thanks so much for coming. >> Of course. >> Thank you guys. So >> can everybody hear I didn't have it close enough to my mouth, did I? >> I think you have to have >> Hello. Can everyone hear me? >> Perfect. Uh yes. Hi, my name is Tim. Um
I'm the triage coordinator at Father Bills in Mainspring out of our Plymouth office. Uh I'm here today to talk a little bit about Father Bills as a whole and talk a little bit more about the programs that we offer. So Father Bills and Mainspring, if you're unfamiliar with us, we're a
nonprofit organization based out of Brockton. Uh we work throughout the entire Plymouth County area. Um and our goal is to work with those who are unhoused and get them eventually to be self-sufficient. Essentially what that looks like is um we are working towards
self- autonomy for those who are um you know unhoused and getting them access to services with our community partners um if they are interested. So a little bit of history um originally we had um a homeless shelter here uh in
Main or Mainspring House in Brockton. Um and we also had Father Bill's place in Quincy. Um they were two uh homeless shelter locations and they eventually joined forces in 2007 and became father Bills in Mainspring which is what we know today.
Um this is a map of all the communities that we serve essentially. Um if you have any questions it's just the Plymouth County area. Um plus a little bit more. Um we cover the you know Plymouth, we cover or yeah we also cover Plymouth, we cover Wearham, we cover um
everything in between. Um, so essentially I want to talk a little bit about the shelters that we're offering because that's the main thing that I think a lot of people know of us for. Um, we recently uh have departed from Father Bill's place and our main
spring house and have introduced what we call the housing resource center model. The housing resource center model is focused on providing daytime services in addition to the services that we provided before. So before we uh guests would come in at like 700 p.m. or sorry
not 7 p.m. 5:00 pm they'd come in they would receive a hot meal. They would get a safe place to stay and they'd have to leave during the day. We didn't have the capacity before to serve those uh during the day and they would have to come back the day uh the night after. Now we are
introducing this housing resource model where uh people are allowed to come into shelter um and access services during the day like case management um there's a library at all of our facilities um medical services if they need them uh
showers laundry uh hot meal breakfast lunch and dinner 24-hour staff it's great people are out people are no longer on the streets they can come in and access the services that they need to super recent ly built. Um we have our
Quincy location and we also have our Brockton location um with a Plymouth one coming on the way which I'm very excited about. But currently right now we are offering um our overnights of hospitality in Plymouth which is a seasonal temporary shelter. Um it runs essentially throughout the winter um
from about December all the way through the end of March uh beginning of April. Um, and it's like our old model, which is essentially where guests would come in, you know, at 5:00 p.m. They'd be able to get a hot meal. Um, and then they would leave during the day and come back and access services, um, when they,
um, you know, come in for shelter. And we work with the Plymouth Task Force to End Homelessness. I'm not sure if anyone's also familiar with them. We coordinate a lot with them. They are absolutely fantastic and a great community partner for Father Bills. >> Can you tell us a little bit about them?
>> Yeah, absolutely. So we um we just essentially work in tandem with them. So we provide the staffing um they work to provide um you know the hot meals, they work to provide the volunteers that are interested in working with these services um and they kind of coordinate like the day-to-day and then Father
Bills and Mainspring kind of takes over provides the staffing um and introduces our model of like case management and things like that during the day. I want to talk a little bit about our guest requirements. what is um if individuals were going to come to our
shelter um what they would need essentially um guests would need to be able to take care of themselves. Guests would need to you know make sure that they are practicing their ADLs and um we are unfortunately aren't at the capacity where we're able to assist those with you know dire medical needs. um people
who are in need of who have higher medical needs honestly like they need to go to some sort of nursing home, some sort of rehab facility. Shelter is not necessarily the best place for that and we don't unfortunately have the capacity to assist with those people. But everyone, for the most part, everyone is
welcome into our shelter as long as they can walk. Um they are able to communicate. Um essentially the big questions that we ask ourselves is if we were to have an emergency, are they able to leave the building on their own? because we we essentially like if we're taking in a guest for the night, we want to make sure that they are safe.
I also want to talk a little bit about some of the programs that we offer we do offer during the day um throughout all of our sites across the Plymouth County area. Uh so this is our triage program. It's essentially what I call the front door to homelessness. If you are an
unhoused individual or an unhoused family, you connect with our triage program. And our triage program essentially uh works to figure out what service you are what services you are in need of. How are we going to connect you to those services? Um and our goal is to essentially get them from where they
are, meet them where they are, get access to our community partners and the services that they need. Um with the eventual eventual goal of rehousing them in whatever capacity that might look like. Um I also we also like I said offer outreach services. So if um
someone is staying outside um you know sleeping in a tent in the woods, we go out and we meet that individual where they are with the eventual goal of getting them into housing. Not unfortunately not everyone is interested in coming into shelter, which is why these outreach services are so so so
important. Um it's making sure that if a any kind of guest is or any kind of individual client participant is interested in working with us, we're able to do that. I want to talk a little bit about our tenency preservation program as well. Um, essentially, Father Bills and
Mainspring, we advocate for tenency prevention or tenency preservation and prevention of homelessness in any kind of way. If there is a chance that you can sustain your tenency and avoid becoming homeless homeless, we are advocates of that. We don't want you have to stay in shelter. We want to
avoid that process entirely. Um so ten this tenency preservation program um that we offer through Father Bills and Mainspring specifically works with those who have a chronic disability um and works with them to try and preserve the teny if they're uh under undergoing some
sort of eviction. Um and that's where we kind of step in, we mediate, we meet the client where they're at with the goal of trying to preserve the teny and sustain housing. Um I also want to talk a little bit about permanent supportive housing. So a lot of what we do in addition to
rehousing shelter is also work with clients who are in our programs. Um so if a client is in our housing, our goal is to make sure that they sustain their housing to avoid becoming uh unhoused once again. Um so we have many different
sites across um you know the Plymouth County area. A lot of them are located in Brockton and in Quincy. Um and a lot of them look like these congregate sites that you see right here. Unfortunately I can't see the glare. the picture on the right, but I can see uh this rowways apartments. Essentially, what those look
like is that uh individuals get their own kind of space. They get a bed, they get a little kitchenet area, they get their own bathroom, and then they share the building with others, and it becomes a community. Um this is one of the many different per uh permanent supportive uh permanent supportive housing sites that
we have across Plymouth County um to get people into housing. I also want to talk a little bit about family programs in Massachusetts. Um, if you are an unhoused family, it works a little bit different as if you were an unhoused individual. Um, in order to
access our family programs, you would have to apply with the state of Massachusetts. Um, and they would they would determine whether or not you are eligible for our services. Um, and at that point, you would meet with our triage team on the family program side to determine if we can sustain the teny.
Is there any chance we can rehouse you? um whether you're couch surfing, is there any chance we can avoid having you to go to shelter? Um because that is the ultimate goal, trying to get trying to keep people from becoming unhoused. Um and then once uh an individual is or a family is in our shelter, if that is the
case, if that is the path that they have to take, we are more than willing to step in um and work with them to get them rehoused. I also uh wanted to attach my contact information here. Um throughout uh the Plymouth County area, we have um
different facilities. So we have our Brockton uh housing resource center as well as our Quincy Housing Resource Center um where we operate out of and as well as the Plymouth and Wearham area. Um these are the contacts for our triage teams. Um the leads for our triage teams. So, if you ever have an
individual who is unhoused, have a family who's unhoused, at risk of losing their tenency, um we are here to step in and kind of try to avoid that. So, if you um if you ever have any questions, feel free to reach out. Uh we are, I
like to say, very uh very sociable. We are not people who shy away from uh discomfort. Uh we want to step in. We want to see you guys succeed if there is an individual who is unhoused. And that is the end of my presentation. Does anyone have any questions?
What's up? >> Is there a preference with the terminal growing up? >> There isn't necessarily. Um I personally I kind of think there's a kind of stigma um when it comes to using the term homeless um that I think people kind of
shy away from. I typically prefer the term unhoused just because there isn't necessarily any kind of stigma attached to it and it kind of identifies the same group. Does that make sense? >> Yeah. Cool. >> What's up? >> Absolutely. Um, so I I do want to
preface this by saying that unfortunately like our Quincy and Brockton housing resource centers are at capacity. We don't have any more beds to offer. Um, we we are very we don't want to turn away guests ever. So, we try and make the space if we have the
possibility to and whether that is a mat on the floor, whether that is a chair, we want to make sure people are staying warm and out of the cold. Um, we having really I don't think we've gotten to the point where we're necessarily kicking any anyone out because we don't have the space. I don't want to think about that
until it happens. So, I'm going to try and stay hopeful and say that we can rehouse everyone until we get to that point. >> Yes. Two questions. First one is people coming into >> Yeah. So, unfortunately, the snowstorm
did kind of start on a Sunday, which was kind of an awkward time. um we didn't have case workers out in the field um doing outreach over the weekend because um we just unfortunately don't have that capacity. We did see some guests that we previously were we didn't know of or we we're normally in contact with a lot of
the guests that are coming into shelter. A lot of the unhoused populations in those areas. Um we did see some additional guests we don't normally see come into shelter. Um it we did see I will say we did see a large like ex exceeding capacity than we're normally
typically used to unfortunately. >> Yeah. Um I I'll be quite transparent. I don't know much about the funding. I do know that a large amount of our family program funding comes directly from the state um if not all of it. Um I do know we get do get a lot of money when it
comes to private donors. Um specifically when it comes to those like kind of congregate sites such as the roadway apartments as I've mentioned um we typically um might have a community partner or someone um in the area that's able to like either donate a building or able to financially support that
building. So, I mean, you might have seen the um Yaki re or the Smith family housing resource center um that we have in Brockton. Um the Smith family was kind enough, they uh had the financial funds to help us build that kind of center, which is why we named it after them. So, it's a combination of um
federal funding, state funding, and private donations. >> Yep, we do. It be it's like slowly decreasing because of the you know, federal government that we have going on right now, but I can stay hopeful that we'll get more
What's up? >> We do. Yeah. >> Okay. Excellent. And then also say that you do have your landlord and they're going through the eviction process. Do you guys accompate? >> We do. Um it totally depends on a case by case basis in what the client needs.
Um the I will say the TPP program, the tenency preservation program, they do a fantastic job of that. So they cover actually more than the Plymouth County area. They also cover um like parts on Cape Cod, they cover Adelboroough, Fall River, New Bedford. Um and they will they actually go to courts um like
throughout the week and sit there and like not hopes but like in the event that someone is there for um some kind of housing matter to provide mediation. >> Okay. >> Yeah. And that's kind of when they step in and take over. >> Um and then multiple questions. Go for it. Do they have to be 18 to enter the
shelter? I know Boston places like 16 and up to go for a homeless runway, if you will. >> Yeah, unfortunately they do have to be uh 18 and older. Um we do have a young adults program as well. Um I I I didn't cover all of the programs that we have
because there are literally so many. Um but one of the programs we do offer is for young adults between 18 and 24. >> Yeah, >> of course. So what happens for someone that's between >> unfortunately we probably most like from
my experience u I'd probably contact ECF because there's probably some sort of situ there's some situation going on there um and typically like I do want to preface by saying that DCF sounds super scary you know it's this uh foreign you know government agency coming and kind
of stepping into this family um but the goal of DCF is never to take away the kids it's kind of to figure out what's going on with this family? How can we keep this family together if at all? Um, and a lot of that times that might look like, you know, them going into a family shelter, you know? Um, because if it's
two adults who have custody of the child, um, and the child is unhoused and, you know, there's some sort of housing situation going on, like that's where they'll kind of lead them to to preserve like not only the family core, but like get them housed eventually, get them on the path. >> What's up?
>> I just want to mention that, you know, that's why group that I'm a part of is a very awesome group of people all of us together and it's bringing like all these different disciplines so that we can bring people to that next level you
just support one another Yeah, the hub group is absolutely fantastic. It's a great way um at least from Father Bills and Mainspring's point of view to able to connect with other community partners that we wouldn't necessarily know exist. Um so shout out
to the hub always. >> What is the hub? >> The hub it's um it's a something located um in the Plymouth County area specifically. Um we work uh it's essentially community partners get together every Wednesday to chat and um you know triage the kind of situations
that are going on. Whether or not someone is unhoused it doesn't matter. It could be a mental health issue, could be a substance abuse issue. Um it's a way for essentially to meet with other community partners um and dissect issue like issues going on with participants and how we can best assist them.
Also a shout out to Jordan Nelson from Plymouth County Outreach. She's great. Is there any other questions? I kind of know I sped through this. Um I really I I am passionate about working with those who are unhoused. So I mean you guys
have my business cards. I mean if anyone has any questions, you can always reach out to me as well. My direct work phone is on there. I'm always happy to answer any questions. And if anyone is just curious, maybe curious about volunteering as well, more than happy to step in. >> But I guess does anyone have any
questions? So, how would you go about >> to go if someone was interested? >> Um, we typically I would recommend going on to um our website. Um, there is just a space on our website. If for those who are interested in volunteering with
contact information, I'll be honest, I don't know the best person off the top of my head, but if you are interested in it, feel free to reach out to me. Once again, I can connect you. I'm more than happy to. And then donations, private donations you said, right? >> Yeah, as well you can do that. Um I you
can also um you know head just to our there's also we have an administrative office in Brockton that has a distribution center. Um they take donations as well. Um it's all unfortunately we only accept new things um because we don't know where used things have been and we want to make sure if we're giving something to one of
our participants that we give them the best uh quality things. Um, so if anyone is interested in donating as well, once again, feel free to reach out to me. Maybe head over to our administrative office, but I also know that Brockton's a bit of a drive from here. >> No, that's okay. Yeah, I didn't I
unfortunately didn't go over that. Um I >> Yeah, because I mean every situation is different. Um quite honestly, it's to reach out to one of our contacts here, um either Shirley, Felicia, or I, um we're more than happy to kind of talk about whatever situations that someone might be going through. Um I genuinely
would advise if someone is at risk of losing their teny, um if there is a chance we might be able to step in, try and preserve that tenency. If you guys um if someone you see someone who might be on house, just letting us know so we can keep that on our radar. Um any
referral I would consider is a good referral. If um you ever are like, hey, like maybe this person is experiencing um some kind of housing instability, just reach out and maybe um maybe it'll be a simple quick fix and we can preserve that tenency or maybe they are
unfortunately they don't need our services. They're a little bit too far up the pipeline. That also does happen. Um, but if you ever once again if anyone has any questions feel free to reach out and we can always chat about it because I know everyone is case by case. >> Yeah.
>> Is it just the So yeah, let me try and um >> yeah, let me try and dissect that a little bit more. When I talk about tenency preservation, I don't just mean our tenency preservation program. Um through our triage program, our uh we also try and prevent homelessness. So if
someone is in so our TPP program is specifically for those who are in housing courts um and that have a chronic disability and are in need of some sort of housing mediation from within the courts. Um and like I said we operate out of Attalboroough out of the entire Plymouth County area at Adalboroough, Fall River, New Bedford,
the Cape Cod. Um but we can also try and preserve tenency through our triage program. Um if there is any sort of way we can try and preserve a teny like um let's say someone has fallen a little bit behind on their rent and they just need a little help catching up that's where we kind of step in. Um we might be
able to pay back those revages. We might be able to work out some sort of uh repayment plan. Um like I said everyone every single case is different. Um and we're always trying to advocate for trying to preserve tenencies and avoid homelessness and prevent it. Um there's
so there's so many different aspects to it. Yeah. Does that answer your question? I know that was kind of snowbally. >> Yeah. >> Absolutely. situ, >> right? the last couple weeks.
>> Right. Absolutely. And if you know someone was facing you know having to leave their uh housing opportunity in 3 weeks that's even a place where we would step in. Um we would try and work with that um know the landlord say hey if you guys can hold on to this participant for just a couple more extra weeks we'll
work to rehouse them. We'll work to find a new apartment that works on their income. Um we'll help them move in with funding um with the goal of hopefully keeping them from going out onto the street because that's never the goal. Um, shelter is supposed to be an emergency option, but if there's any chance we can avoid that, it's always
beneficial. >> Yes. >> I know that reference to that's consumer actually. So that's going to take a quick fix to get this. So I learned
the federal housing authority would be able to special. And this person in particular >> really differentit noticeral they were able to solutions,
but you got push online and do it like they don't have section. So they all work another The point is that I learned I didn't realize that there is a federal section
and they'll be able to process the state applications. And that's the only way the phone helped everything online.
Right. And so once you know every other month you don't in that department. So applications on the third step and then the fourth
step of course Now that person goes comp. So I just felt like what I understand is
on the individual that you were speaking specifically, what did they do? Um, I call this personhere. So,
to the right and I just made sure I had to looked at it and I said question it looks easy and I'm sure it is but the person's consider and then address it and answer the
question. It comes out different that They used to options. >> Can I ask you can you summarize what you were saying? I can hear. >> Do you want to give maybe a two
sentence? Three bullet points. >> I think >> it's a lot. question. So there's a state >> really is I thought I was loud. I thought I had a big mouth but guess I don't. All right. Does this work? Okay.
So, um, so with those two types of vouchers, apparently they're funded differently, but it's just a matter of advocating. So, understanding a CHAMP application isn't just a CHAMP a CHAMP application is a CHAMP application. A CHAMP application allows you to apply
for housing at all different levels. So, you might want to apply for Pemroke, you might want to apply for handover, maybe Boston. So the more you choose on that application, you're going to have a better chance of getting in somewhere, but it still takes
a long time. They do give special pre preferences in certain instances like veteran services, a veteran or someone that has um a disability or something of that nature. But they also the section 8 voucher in this particular case for the
senior that is in this situation. The section 8 voucher worked well because of the fact it allowed that person now to go. It opened up more opportunities where they could go to an apartment complex that's just been built. You probably see an oasis on the highway
there heading south. That particular or um environment or property manager there, they accept section 8 vouchers. So that person has that option to go there and be able to get into it just opens that door for that individual
rather than be in a situation where you guys would be taxed with all the different scenarios that you're dealing with too. So >> what you're saying now different places. >> Yeah, it's it's advantageous and we hear
some people wait 10 10 years to be on there but again you have to be persistent and you have to have that personality where you can call in not to to b you know call them every day but to be persistent and understand what other variables are out there. So, um, they,
uh, there's Neighborworks Housing Solutions. That's why I had them come in to talk about what is available, um, through Neighborworks Housing Solutions, which is federally funded. There's different mechanisms there. We had people for home modification programs.
They offer a number of different things. So, I had three women that were coming in to talk about the different variables and um, but, you know, people probably didn't think they needed it at the time. So, we didn't have a good turnout. But these are the kind of things I like to educate people on because there's so
many opportunities out there. It's just a matter of sorting through it and understanding rather than googling it. And, you know, Google's great, but it's not always reliable in in a lot of ways. But when I see it been there in the industry for a long time, I understand
what's out there and I'm like that that person should be talking to this person and so on. That's why we're all connected right now today because it's important that you understand what's out there and and just ask and if you ask the right people, I'll get you to the right resource out there. So, and that's
so important and I don't know enough about everything, but I'll get you to the right people and this is a a good person in terms of >> somebody asked me a question about housing. I always say go to council on aging and they will direct you in the right direction.
>> Yep. Neighborworks Housing Solutions is also a good resource. So, you know, there's a lot of um there's a lot to it and we don't want to miss out. For instance, like federal federal housing, there's federal housing applications out
there. So, people not realizing that Cushing Residents, there's in handover which is phenomenal. So there's a lot of wonderful things and learning how to navigate those different resources out there in within all of the communities
that you um you know are exposed to. So, but anyway, I even call Maya Woo because she she uh she had some >> they are. >> Yeah. And it's some of them most of them do get involved with it and then some of
them don't get as deep into it because we like to rely on the people that provide the services. It's the best. You know, you're going to get more information from that. And that's what this person did. Got she went right back to that office and I said, "You're going to stay. you're going to get that
resource from that office. And she did and she came back. She goes, "Did you know there was federal?" I said, "Yes, I know, but I can't do all these applications, you know, because that would be just it's it's very lengthy and so is Mass Health and so is Medicare and all that other wonderful stuff. So,
don't forget uh social uh social security. Dileia DLO is coming on uh she's going to be virtual at the library, a homes library on the 5th. So, it's good to understand. So if you have kids that are retiring or thinking of it, that's the time to she'll go through
the process of going through it and so on. But anyway, so that's that. >> So >> thank you so much for answering that. Yeah. No, you're all good. No worries. The point is to make sure that everyone understands as much as they can. I mean, housing is so so confusing.
>> Yeah. >> Did that spawn any questions as well? >> What's Yeah. What's up? part of >> we don't work handinhand with them. They are a fantastic community partner though. Yeah. Um I I mean they have um I
mean everyone from Catholic Charities that I've been in contact with has been fantastic. They do a great job at providing like um clothing and resources and things like that for those who are um able to access those services in um I believe it's in New Bedford Fall River the area >> and Brockton.
>> Oh, cool. Yeah. >> Oh yeah, they're absolutely great. It is. Yeah, everyone is so kind there. >> Cool. >> Sounds like everybody. >> Perfect. Thank you for having me.
>> Thanks so much for coming. >> Of course. Happy. >> I was really interested. Learned a lot. Um, Darlene left some paperwork over there. There's a lot of different programs that are coming up. So, if you want, you can take flyers about those
programs. And I I don't know if the DA's office or sheriff's department have anything that you wanted to add about anything coming up. Sheriff's Department, Lori, or >> I just wanted to quickly let everyone
know. Thank you, Elvie Fehee with the Plymouth County Sheriff's Department. Thank you. Um, so we did bring in some um I guess brochures about the Smart 911 program. It's taking the place of um
what was previously known as um Code Red. Um so it's an it's an emergency alert system for the county. It's for both Plymouth and Bristol counties. Um, it's a great way to know what's kind of going on. If there's any sort of like
security, road closures, that sort of thing, you get an alert. You do have to sign up for the system. If you were previously signed up for the um, Code Red program, you do have to, unfortunately, sign up for this program. Um, it doesn't transfer over the information.
>> Does the brochure tell you how to sign up? >> Um, yes, all that information is there. Um, I think we provided Darlene with some. Um, and if you guys have any other further questions about it, feel free to reach out um to either Darlene and she can get you in touch with us or um call the Plymouth County Sheriff's
Department, myself, Elvie Fee or Lorie Sullivan. We're a team. So, >> yes. And some sort of like either a landline, um a cell phone, all of that information is listed there. it. And we also put the information on our website
um in the community tab um and that will it also explains all of that like how and what you need and etc. >> Tell me would you like that to be passed out? >> Um do you have them? We can pass it out. >> Oh, I thought you had them in the box.
>> Oh, we did. We did. We have >> Oh, they're over there. >> But they'll be available at this council. Okay. >> Yeah, she'll have them and if you guys need more, we'll be happy to provide them. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Great.
>> Any questions? No. police department. >> Yeah, I mean we're essentially working in conjunction with the various police departments. Um some police departments are choosing to still maintain their own system. Um but this is a cost that we've
absorbed and if you're part of our county um it's a service that we provide. Great. >> All right. Thank you. >> Um, and so that's it, I think. Um,
thanks everybody.