A Pandemic-Fueled Fight for Families’ Futures
As medical professionals continue to battle the ever-mutating effects of the coronavirus, FamilyAid’s professional social workers continue to work 24/7 to stave off its deepening economic, educational, and emotional impacts. With the help of a growing number of supporters, FamilyAid is wrapping around a growing number of struggling children and parents –2,650 and counting- in our care.
Food Security: At the pandemic’s outset, 300 FamilyAid clients didn’t have enough food or supplies to last a week. As the pandemic worsened, that number increased to 1,000 and continues to grow as the job growth and government support limps along. FAB now procures, packages, and distributes – through COVID-conscious door-to-door deliveries – 14,000 pounds of food and supplies weekly. Significant support from our corporate and foundation donors as well as all of you who donated have been critical to the operation’s success. Our consistent efforts have stabilized more than 1,600 family members’ food security, with 90% now having enough to get by. The recent addition of USDA support via our Katsiroubas Produce partnership has secured sufficient food for our families through April.
Cash Assistance: Since May, FAB has been providing cash-strapped, unemployed families with bi-weekly cash assistance. With added financial coaching, we are helping them prioritize and reduce mounting debt that may push them further into homelessness. Initially, 278 clients qualified for this privately funded program with more than 900 now enrolled. A recent United Way grant will help continue the program through March.
Vaccine Rollout – With vaccinations underway, FamilyAid is increasing awareness, education, and case support to help families navigate often confusing information and access to the vaccine. This has been a challenging task as our clients grapple with both the coronavirus’ greatest medical risks and innate concern that their communities have historically been appropriated for experimental medical testing without consent. With 2% of our adult shelter population now eligible for the vaccine, the agency is educating and engaging families in vaccine clinics that we are co-hosting with Healthcare for the Homeless, with roll outs with other providers scheduled to continue through the fall.
Homeless Prevention – Once the smallest component of our work, eviction prevention services now comprise two thirds. We have stabilized 90% of our 1,600 prevention clients with navigation services, mediation, more than $500,000 in private financial support from the Family-to-Family Project and Gerstner Philanthropies, and help accessing governmental rental relief programs. With Massachusetts’ eviction moratorium’s March end, FamilyAid is readying for an increase in requests for support.
Shelter and Crisis Services – FamilyAid continues to safely operate its 123 shelters with few instances of resident COVID exposure. This fall, we added 6 more units and a shelter diversion program, both privately funded through Jeff Bezos’ Day1 Families Fund grant.
Housing Placements – Through partnerships with Boston Public Schools, Boston Housing Authority, the City’s Department of Neighborhood Development, the Clipper Ship Foundation, Cabot Family Charitable Trust, Mabel Louise Riley Foundation, Kraft Family Foundation, Ludcke Foundation, and several of our generous private major donors, FamilyAid has permanently housed more than 600 children and parents – a record number – since July. Clients are now receiving critical support to ensure they remain stably housed. Ninety-nine percent of the families we have housed since last year remain stably housed. We are now aggressively pursuing landlords and affordable housing units for an additional 335 families who have received housing vouchers through our BPS/BHA initiative.
Trauma Reduction and Educational Engagement – Emerging research suggests that children may suffer the deepest emotional effects of the pandemic. To mitigate those impacts, the Buttenwieser Family Foundation, Cummings Foundation and a group of individual donors are supporting FamilyAid’s new Children First initiative. The program adds critical connections and supports to children in our care: early childhood assessments, collaborative education and training with Horizons for Homeless Children, referrals to behavioral health specialists, reading programs with the Clinton Foundation, virtual technologies to support at-home learning, and fun activities and holiday gifts to lighten children’s spirits. We have also launched support groups to help both parents and our staff cope with the crisis. The efforts are paying off: Artemis Associates’ recent independent survey of FamilyAid clients indicate that overall, they feel treated with dignity, trust staff, and feel there is an emphasis on their strengths in solving their current challenges.
To wage this all-encompassing battle for families’ futures, we have hired more than 40 new permanent and temporary employees, volunteer specialists, and interns through the philanthropic community’s much needed and appreciated assistance.
Surprised by the depth of our multi-pronged approach, one of our most generous, longtime benefactors recently asked when we would end our pandemic-fueled efforts. Our pragmatic answer: when children and parents in our care can finally stand on their own, or we run out of the resources to help them do so.
For Boston’s most vulnerable families, the climb out of the pandemic will be long, steep, and difficult. While current resources only extend our COVID work through July, we plan to be there for them every step of the way, with your continued support.
Larry Seamans
Executive Director of FamilyAid Boston
Larry Seamans has been the President of FamilyAid Boston since 2018, and has served Boston’s working poor for 25 years.
