LYNN SHELTER ASSOCIATION INC
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Mission Statement
Lynn Shelter Association is a non profit organization providing shelter, housing and services to homeless adults and families on the North Shore of Massachusetts. It has been our focused mission to care for the homeless for over thirty years: • To offer programs that support the needs of our clients in a respectful, comprehensive, and cohesive way. • To develop and maintain housing, administrative, and income-generating properties/facilities that support our mission and enhance our financial stability. • To become a more widely recognized community asset and to maintain and continue to build strong community ties and collaborations. • To become more financially independent with the goal of limiting our public funding to no more than 75%of total annual budget • To further develop a committed Board of Directors with a broad range of expertise and resources to help realize our mission. And to achieve all of this while maintaining the dignity of our guests.
About This Cause
Since incorporation in 1984, Lynn Shelter Association (LSA) has developed programming and shelter and housing opportunities for the homeless individuals and families for the Greater Lynn Area of Massachusetts. During the 30+ years of its existence LSA’s mission has remained the same. LSA is committed to work in communities and with populations where homelessness is prevalent; to insure equal access to our services; to educate the public and the community about our services and about the impact of homelessness on our community and on our state. As the need for shelter and the numbers of homeless increased in the Lynn area, LSA opened the adult emergency shelter in 1985 – six beds in St. Stephen’s Church. In 1988, the shelter and LSA’s administration offices were housed in trailers behind our current administration building while the MultiService Center was renovated. McKinney Vento dollars from the federal government were used to do the renovations and the city of Lynn leased the building from the government for 30 years with a stipulated use clause. In the mid 90’s LSA purchased our buildings at 89-103 Liberty Street – across from the MultiService center and began Housing Opportunities Management Enterprises – a wholly owned subsidiary that provides below market rentals and that also houses LSA programming (12 subsidized apartments for chronically homeless families and 49 SRO units for chronically homeless adults) funded using both federals and state subsidies. The Bridge House was established in 1988 as our first family shelter in an old Victorian building on Baker Street in Lynn. In 2014 we added GreenHouse with 20 units and in 2015 we added Independence House with 32 units - all under the aegis of the department of Housing and Community Development. Congregate Sheltering for families is a large component of our agency mission and remains a major service line item for the homeless in the Massachusetts Budget. The Shelter Plus Care Program was established in collaboration with the Lynn Housing Authority for those individuals committed to moving beyond shelter life towards self-sufficiency. We have 26 units of individual Shelter plus Care and 5 two bedroom apartments for families. Shelter Plus care is a subsidized permanent housing program for the chronically homeless and disabled sponsored through HUD. In addition, and also sponsored through HUD we have 9 units of supportive housing which is also subsidized and serves the same adult population but is managed by LSA not the Housing authority. The Inn Progression program was developed as a short term link to services and programs and is funded through MHSA. Initially these 15 units were transitional housing but have become permanent subsidized housing within the last two years due in large part to state pressure to increase PH availability. TRansitions Program began in 1995 with apartment and scattered site housing for individuals who are nearly ready to go it alone but is closing this year as HUD funding for transitional housing is waning. Note that the state Department of Housing and Community Development funds 5 units of subsidized housing for families under the Mass Resource Voucher Program. LSA programs provide and promote a continuum of care that empowers clients who are the most disenfranchised to strive for independence and self-sufficiency. LSA programs are located in buildings and areas that are easily accessible by public transportation to best serve the homeless in our host City of Lynn. Over the past 10 years as a direct result of outreach to community leaders and agencies, LSA has strengthened our collaborative efforts and relationships as part of the LynnPACT, as members of the Police MH Task Force, the Drug Overdose Committee, the Chamber of Commerce and the City's Strategic Planning Committee. As we plan for the future, LSA continues to address the changing needs of the homeless in our community - turning our eye to veterans, unaccompanied youth and those adult homeless who remain living "out". LSA’s services are free to all guests. In Calendar 2014, LSA provided shelter and services to over 1200 homeless individuals and 47 homeless families. Our Emergency shelter served over 800 unduplicated people annually, with 53 beds in the warmer months and up to 90 beds and mats during the coldest winter months (nearly 22,000 bed units per year). Our family shelters will be able to serve 64 families with their children at any point in time and we usually are able to move that entire case load into housing at least once per year for a total of 128 families served annually. A family unit can consist of a single parent and their child(ren), a pregnant mother within 3 months of birthing, intact families and their children. It is our long-term intent to increase our adult shelter capacity and our housing stock. The number of street homeless in Lynn is 100-120 and many would enter shelter if there was sufficient space. In addition, the dearth of affordable housing on the North Shore is lamentable. Subsidies are as rare as hen's teeth and a typical climb to self sufficiency takes 7 years. To have a building where our agency could set below fair market value rents, would be a great addition towards a long term solution. The lack of subsidies and housing in general has resulted in longer shelter stays. This has meant that many of our families and individuals that would have used our services for 9 months or less, are still with us over 18 months later. Despite the fact that innovative programming and a commitment to professionalism has helped LSA build strong community linkages and led to steady growth over the past twenty years, there is much more to do to ensure that our guests have services and homes in the future.. Currently, our program sites are strategically planned to build off of each other and to support the continuum of care model. We offer emergency shelter through to assisted living as clients transition back into the work force and an independent life. While they are with LSA in any of our programs, and at all of our sites, they have access to case management, housing advocacy, job training and placement services, adult basic education classes, mental health assessment and ongoing counseling, substance use counseling and access to detox and treatment – and assisted access to all state and federal benefits due them. LSA is now a financially stable, homeless program with committed public funding and over 30 years of experience in serving the homeless in Lynn and surrounding communities. Our challenges will come as they always do with the changes in political climate, the economy and the eye of the people. We have great hope that the focus on income inequality will make a difference for families. Currently in Lynn, a family must work 91 hours a week at minimum wage to afford a two bedroom apartment. without cable, heat or food. The 10 year plan to end homelessness is now 22 years old. Ours is not a service that will end, but it can be a service that with best effort is no longer a crisis.