Heading House: Serving to Hundreds of Better Bostonians Finish Their Homelessness for 50 Years

Heading House Wins the 2022 Non-profit Group of the 12 months Award

BOSTON- Few have made an influence on households in want throughout the COVID-19 pandemic fairly like Heading Home, a non-profit devoted to serving to people and households in Better Boston exit homelessness. Within the darkest days of the pandemic, many housing-insecure households on the brink turned homeless after the virus wreaked havoc on the economic system, and wanted help with every little thing: from discovering secure, secure shelter to procuring meals, diapers, and requirements. The added stressors of a world pandemic put extra strains on help networks that had been unprecedented for a lot of households and communities. In her function as CEO of Heading House, Danielle Ferrier, MBA, LICSW, together with Chief Improvement Officer Suzanne Picher doubled down to assist as many individuals as potential throughout the bleakest moments of the pandemic. Taking up as many pressing issues for his or her group as potential, Heading House has been there for his or her purchasers once they wanted them most in numerous methods.

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After all, like many shelter suppliers within the space, Heading House incurred extraordinary bills to guard and supply for the individuals of their packages. The pandemic compelled the cancellation of many conventional fundraising occasions, together with Heading House’s fashionable annual Housewarming celebration. CDO Picher, confronted with this sudden hurdle, pivoted and dreamed up a fundraising marketing campaign to help their trigger. This new fundraising marketing campaign, “Heading to $1M, so others can head house,” challenged 30 leaders within the business actual property trade to boost $1,000,000 for Better Bostonians navigating homelessness. By way of the unwavering help and generosity of virtually 400 corporations and philanthropic leaders, primarily in CRE, the marketing campaign raised $2,000,000: greater than twice its preliminary objective.

Heading House has efficiently helped 1000’s of individuals in Better Boston finish their homelessness for almost 50 years. At present, a number one supplier of housing and help companies for over 1,600 purchasers, Heading House helps households and people alike, boldly main the best way to assist kids and adults go away homelessness behind.

Heading House’s method to ending homelessness is exclusive – supporting males, girls, and youngsters of all ages, from infants to the aged. Many suppliers concentrate on one subset – households or grownup people, however as a result of Heading House helps each, the group can shepherd mother and father as they navigate kids growing old out of the household system, help single adults turning into mother and father, and older adults as they age in place. Their frontline employees practices evidence-based case administration methods that help purchasers from the second they enter its packages. In situations the place Heading House doesn’t provide a specialised service, case managers outsource to companion businesses who could concentrate on that space similar to substance use, authorized system, healthcare, and psychological well being suppliers. For 17 years operating, Heading House’s everlasting housing retention charges have been 90%+. Final yr, 97% of Heading House purchasers remained housed after one yr.

The latest notable improvement beneath Ferrier’s management is that she and Heading House have saved Casa Nueva Vida, a nonprofit that serves Latinx households in Boston and Lawrence, and whose mission aligns carefully with Heading House. On the verge of shutting down, Casa Nueva Vida, the one Massachusetts homeless shelter community with a largely Spanish-speaking employees will proceed operations beneath a brand new partnership with Heading House. Heading House now handles monetary and administrative work for properties previously managed by Casa Nueva Vida, and on July 1, 2022, Casa Nueva Vida (CNV), a former shelter supplier for primarily Spanish-speaking households in Boston and Lawrence, turned a division of Heading House. This mission-aligned transfer unites two organizations which have independently been working to finish homelessness for many years. With 83% of Heading House’s purchasers figuring out as non-white and/or Hispanic/Latinx, each Heading House and CNV help equally various households. Their mixed work consists of advocating for a lot of subsets of the inhabitants, together with these considerably marginalized, from an fairness and entry perspective.

With a 34% enhance in households, Heading House’s mission supply has expanded – in each numbers of household households in addition to the geographic addition of Lawrence, a high-needs, gateway group that we’re delighted to help. Whereas prioritizing the preservation of CNV’s cultural id, the mixed groups are advancing efforts to finish homelessness in Better Boston and Lawrence, whereas studying from one another’s finest practices to efficiently serve purchasers.

Ferrier has greater than 25 years of expertise within the human companies trade. She holds two grasp’s levels: Grasp of Enterprise Administration from the Simmons College of Administration and Grasp of Social Work from Boston College. She was most not too long ago the Deputy Commissioner for Scientific Companies & Program Operations on the Division of Kids & Households. Ferrier holds the very best stage of unbiased licensure in social work (LICSW) and was a working towards medical therapist for 15 years. Her coaching and first apply are with “high-risk” kids, youth, and households with a medical specialty in trauma and attachment. Her packages at Rediscovery specialised primarily in “growing old out youth,” and unaccompanied homeless youth, and she or he developed an revolutionary program, YouthHarbors, primarily based in excessive faculties and designed to stop unaccompanied highschool college students from turning into homeless or to quickly home these youth when they’re homeless.

Ferrier teaches on the Boston College College of Social Work within the Coverage Division and has supplied skilled session on instances associated to the medical influence of foster care and packages designed to work with young-parenting adults who’ve skilled trauma and substance abuse. She has skilled nationally on matters associated to baby welfare, homeless youth, and training. Ferrier has served on many job forces designed to guage and tackle the problems going through homeless, unaccompanied youth, and youth concerned in state care.

When requested about its five-year progress plan by the Boston Actual Property Instances, Heading House says it’ll proceed to develop its footprint of everlasting supportive housing for households and people experiencing homelessness within the coming 5 years, in accordance with the group’s strategic plan.

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