Emmaus Inc

Programs: Emmaus family house serves up to 28 homeless families at one time in the congregate setting located at 150 how street in haverhill and another 26 families in scattered site apartments located in two buildings in haverhill, with 20 of these families living across the street from the congregate shelter. In the congregate facility, families live with dignity and respect in their own suites and join together for meals and training programs in the spacious sunlit common area located on the first floor. Food and food-related supplies are provided to families living in the apartments. The caring multicultural staff promotes self-reliance from the time each family enters the program. Emmaus house provides meals/food; housing search assistance; medical, mental health, and substance abuse treatment referrals; an on-site licensed social worker; regular visits from a registered nurse; assistance with school registration and enrollment; on-site after-school and summertime tutoring; access to enrichment programs such as the boys and girls club, girls incorporated, and summer day camps; parent training; budgeting and tax preparation; job training and ged programs; access to clothing, household goods, and furnishings. The over-reaching goal is to prepare each family to live in independent, permanent, affordable housing. Most families find housing within 2 - 8 months. Emmaus house has coordinated an extensive base of both volunteer and professional support to assist families in moving ahead toward independent living. Volunteers from area schools, civic groups, local businesses, faith communities, horizons for homeless children, and birthday wishes provide regular support and resources to the shelter. Activities include, but are not limited to: meal preparation and serving, children's activities, participating in fundraising events, seasonal clean-up projects, tutoring, outside yard work, children's holiday and birthday parties, and food, gift, and bedding drives.

housing stabilization program was first established in december 2000 as the agency's housing assistance program with funds from the massachusetts department of transitional assistance. Prior to this time, there was a housing search worker on staff at emmaus house to help homeless families find permanent housing. In august 2005, the housing assistance program expanded to include housing for information services and rental assistance program for people living with hiv and aids (plwha). Today the housing stabilization staff team connects families and individuals to a wide range of housing opportunities, including emmaus-run programs as well as government-funded rental assistance programs and other financial resources. The team continues to stay connected to families for 12 to 18 months after they leave shelter by providing housing stabilization services. Emmaus is linked to an extensive network of local landlords, housing authorities, and low-income housing projects as well as over 150 service providers. Emmaus programs have consistently achieved high housing placement rates, ranking among the top in the state. The ma department of housing and community development (dhcd) originally introduced its new home base program in august 2011. The program was designed to divert homeless families away from shelter and hotels and into permanent housing by providing rental assistance for up to 3 years and one-time household assistance of up to $4,000. Emmaus, through a sub-contract with community teamwork inc. (cti) in lowell, has been operating the front door of the homebase program at the dta office in lawrence since the program's inception. Emmaus is also responsible for providing follow-up stabilization services to families placed into housing. From july 2014 to june 2015, emmaus' housing team has placed 405 homeless families into permanent housing from shelters, hotels, and the "front door" of dta. Emmaus is currently providing stabilization services to 619 families. Emmaus also provides rapid re-housing services to 98 families living in our family shelter as well as two local hotels. Our dedicated housing services program staff connects with stabilization families at least once per month to assess their housing stability and progress made towards reaching their housing and economic stabilization goals. Stabilization workers reach out more frequently to vulnerable families who are deemed at high risk for recidivism based upon presence of multiple risk factors. Emmaus launched the d'youville center for social justice in fall 2008. The center now serves as the emmaus hub for service learning, volunteerism, public awareness-building, social research, public policy development, and advocacy. On-going activities include road home tours offered twice monthly; recruiting, screening, and training individuals to volunteer in emmaus programs; organizing volunteer service days for groups of adult and youth volunteers from businesses, faith communities, and civic organizations; outreach activities. Since june 2009, the center has been awarded seven one-year americorps vista volunteers. For the first three years, the vista volunteer supported the partnership between the center and northern essex community college (necc). Several necc courses across multiple disciplines integrated community service learning opportunities based at emmaus into their course curriculums. Together emmaus and necc have educated more than 600 students and faculty about homelessness and poverty. In august 2013, emmaus expanded its d'youville center to include three vista members in the new rebuilding lives project. One vista member will seek to expand and convert the emmaus food pantry into a multi-faceted donation center that operates with trained volunteers. The second vista assisted with fundraising efforts, focusing on special events and grant research. The third vista conducted a health and wellness needs assessment among emmaus clients and developed and implemented health and wellness programs for residents, including flu shots, hepatitis b and tb testing, and mobile dental clinics. The d'youville center for social justice is named after saint marguerite d'youville, a beloved role model to jeanine murphy, executive director of emmaus. Born on october 15, 1701 in quebec, canada, mother d'youville was the first native canadian to be elevated to sainthood. Marguerite always fought for the rights of the poor and broke with the social conventions of her day. Marguerite was one woman, but her vision of caring for the poor has spread far and wide. Pope john xxiii named marguerite a saint and called her "mother of universal charity" - a well-merited title for one who continues to this day to reach out to all with love and compassion. Emmaus believes that permanent affordable housing with adequate supports is the key to resolving homelessness. Toward this end, emmaus will continue to explore and cultivate opportunities to develop more permanent units.

bethel transitional housing and employment program began in 1993 and was funded with federal hud mckinney funds (now hearth funds). Originally selected as a national demonstration project because of its groundbreaking approach to family homelessness, the bethel program provides 14 families with transitional housing and case management for up to two years. Families live in their own apartments, located 1/2 mile away at columbia park while they participate in job training and education and gain independent living skills. Families may stay in their apartments for up to 2 years while they save money and gain employment skills and experience. Emmaus owns and operates the spacious and well-kept apartments where bethel families reside. In all our projects, emmaus seeks to create healthy, diverse communities by mingling residents across income levels, age, gender, race, and ethnicity. Many bethel residents participate in the bethel business center described below. The case manager assists each family in finding permanent housing once steadily employed. The bethel program employs a holistic approach to help low-income families build self-reliant, fulfilling lives. The bethel business center is the job training and education component attached to the transitional housing program. The program also serves clients from emmaus family house, mitch's place, jericho house, applewood apartments, emerson street apartments, winter street apartments, and 115 emerson street. The program is focused on lifting men, women, and children out of poverty by teaching adults technical computer and office skills, esol, ged preparation, job readiness, and essential life skills including financial literacy. The experienced staff helps each person find employment upon completing the program. Participants also learn valuable computer skills. The bethel business center is a microsoft office certification test site. Students are encouraged to prepare for the examination. In addition to serving families who live in bethel housing, the training center outreaches to unemployed low-income households.