Hildebrand FY'20 Annual Report

Hildebrand Family Self-Help Center FY’20 Annual Report

A Message from the CEO Dear Friends, The past year ended as anything but “business as usual.” When fiscal year 2020 kicked off on July 1, 2019, plans were underway for the usual Back to School drive which was soon followed by preparations for Thanksgiving and much anticipated December holiday celebrations. We responded to the needs of the families experiencing homelessness in shelter at Hildebrand by continuing to expand the programs and resources they most needed: adding more emergency shelter units; working with families for two years after they moved into permanent housing; exploring opportunities to increase available permanent housing; providing community resources to help with housing searches and employment. We were on track to reach all our FY2020 goals and increase the number of children and families that we work with every year.

This would have been a great year-end summary, if that were the whole story, but it would be wrong to ignore the fact that this has been a difficult year. We welcomed the second half of FY2020 in January with excitement and anticipation of a continued busy and meaningful year. Unfortunately, everything shifted in March as the coronavirus pandemic moved quickly to overwhelm the country. Governor Baker declared a state of emergency on March 10, 2020; on March 11, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization; and on March 13, a national emergency was declared in the United States concerning the COVID-19 outbreak. Hildebrand’s “business as usual” ended abruptly as we closed the main office at 614 Massachusetts Avenue and transitioned staff in that location to predominately remote work a few days later.

The Hildebrand team worked hard to continue the services needed by families in shelter and permanent housing. We instituted new shelter and workplace policies, ordered and dispersed PPEs, installed personal hygiene and disinfecting practices. We continued to provide mental health support, case management, housing search, education and employment assistance, and stabilization services during this pandemic. We found new resources to help school-aged children secure remote learning supplies and enhanced our wi-fi to enable connections in all congregate settings; created alternative plans for summer enrichment experiences; and engaged with additional partners to ensure children and families would not become food insecure.

As the pandemic raged, life got even more complicated when we witnessed the killing of George Floyd. The pandemic had forced us to slow down enough to gain 20/20 vision and to confront, again, the disparate treatment of African Americans. Internally, this sparked a sharing of our lived experiences in conversations on racism. Some talked; others listened. Together, we despaired that some peaceful protests were infiltrated by those who sought to derail the message that Black Lives Matter. Those of us at Hildebrand were humbled as community leaders, donors, foundations, and corporations acknowledged that we too are essential workers. We felt truly seen by our community and, in turn, we reminded the community of Hildebrand’s roots in the African American struggle, and the link between family homelessness, economic disparities, and systemic racism. This year also reenergized our determination to advocate for housing equity.

Thus, we ended the fiscal year resolute that Hildebrand continues to be a force for change. We remain steadfast and resilient – caring and compassionate – meeting families where they are, getting them to where they want to go: into a community where every family has a home.

Sincerely, Shiela Y. Moore CEO

A Message from the Board Chair Dear Friends, Every family has a home. That is Hildebrand’s vision and what we work towards each year. This fiscal year, 2020, presented challenges none of us could have foreseen. Hildebrand started FY’20 with a strategic focus on expansion in programming and permanent housing access as well as an expectation of serving our families with the steadfast commitment to our vision.

In March, the pandemic changed all of our lives, and Hildebrand quickly pivoted to a new way of working and a new set of challenges.

I am extremely proud of how Hildebrand’s staff, board, and families worked together to meet the challenges of this unprecedented public health threat and the added anxiety brought on by civil unrest. Every day, 24/7, Hildebrand’s staff provided essential resources to keep children and their families safe and healthy while they were in shelter. Staff and families worked together to ensure children had access to remote learning and different opportunities for extracurricular activities.

Thanks to the Hildebrand staff and management team, even with all that was happening around the world, we ended on a strong note. We added additional shelter units and increased stabilization services, keeping to our strategic goals. We were able to find permanent homes for 86 families, an annual high for the organization. And, most importantly, we ended the year with newly shared perspectives and novel ideas on programming and expansion for the coming years.

To our supporters and community partners, we extend a very special thank you for your continuing commitment to Hildebrand’s mission. Your participation and support allow us to engage with families in a more thoughtful and meaningful way. I look forward to continued growth and learnings in FY’21 and to keeping you updated on Hildebrand’s progress.

Appreciatively, Kelly Blackburn Chair, Board of Directors

Board of Directors Officers Kelly Blackburn, Chair Kelly S. Mann, Vice-Chair Glenda Allsopp, Treasurer

Members Anthony D. Galluccio, Esq. Wendell Joseph Clifford Long Michelle Meiser Reverend Ellis Washington

Ex-Officio Wendell Bourne Reverend Dr. LeRoy Attles, Sr. Reverend Richard W. Richardson Myra Rodrigues, LICSW

Meet our New Board Member Wendell T. Joseph Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Wendell Joseph. I am an urban planner with a passion for helping to facilitate the growth and wellbeing of cities and communities by providing thoughtful and practical solutions to complex urban and social issues. My experience includes planning processes at citywide and neighborhood scales, parks and open space planning and projects, placemaking and engagement processes, and community needs and benefits. I currently work at Sasaki, an interdisciplinary design and research firm, in close collaboration with studio principals and multidisciplinary project teams on research, design, and planning projects in urban districts, college and university campuses, and neighborhoods and communities around the world.

What was your relationship to Hildebrand before joining the Board?

I did not have a relationship with the organization prior to joining the Board. Ironically, even though I worked in Cambridge for almost five years and was in Central Square virtually every day, I was not aware of Hildebrand’s presence in the Square. It wasn’t until Shiela reached out to me following a panel discussion I participated in that I learned about Hildebrand and its mission. Imagine my surprise upon learning that an organization that does such important and impactful work was right under my nose the whole time!! I saw being part of the Board as an opportunity to contribute to this incredible work. Providing housing for families and seeing them through the process from emergency sheltering to permanent home ownership is about as simple as it gets when talking about basic needs. Naturally, the work is hard and complicated, but it needs to be done.

Why are you passionate about family homelessness and what are your hopes for the issue moving forward?

I know what it is like not to have a place to call home. Those were difficult years. People should not have to experience this level of instability and uncertainty if it can be helped, and I believe it can be helped.

Moving forward, I hope that Hildebrand can build on its record of helping families overcome the cycle of homelessness.

I hope that we can find ways to partner with other organizations and agencies to collectively make substantial progress in ending homelessness in Greater Boston.

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2020 Annual Report

Homeless Family Demographics Homelessness in the U.S.

During FY’18, federal rental assistance programs enabled 5 million low-income households in the United States to rent modest housing at an affordable cost.

According to the HUD Annual Homelessness Assement Report in 2019, 567,715 people nationwide were experiencing homelessness.

More than 1.5 million students were reported as experiencing homelessness at some point during the 2018-2019 school years. This number has increased by 15 percent over the previous year.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates a shortage of 7.2 million affordable and available rental homes nationwide. (March 2019)

Homelessness in Massachusetts

During FY’19, 4,297 unique families were assisted with emergency shelter and/or HomeBASE diversion assistance in MA. Out of the 6,699 families who sought assistance 36% of families were denied assistance.

During the 2018-2019 academic year, over 23,000 public school students experienced homelessness, an increase of nearly 3,000 students over the previous year.

During the point-in-time survey, conducted in January of 2019, 18,471 people in Massachusetts were experiencing homelessness. Of those represented 66% or 12,212 were people in families with children.

Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association estimates over 299,000 extremely low income households in MA, with 60% of those households paying more than half of their income towards rent households. (March 2019) www.hild-selfhelp.org

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Our Impact Since 1988, Hildebrand has been at the forefront of the movement to end family homelessness and realize its vision that every family has a home. Hildebrand disrupts the cycle of homelessness for Greater Boston families through emergency shelter, permanent housing, and ongoing stabilization services. The organization meets families where they’re at to get them to where they want to go.

715 Individuals were provided shelter by Hildebrand in FY’20.

438 Children made up over 61% of the individuals in shelter.

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2020 Annual Report

Emergency Shelter and Transitional Support Hildebrand currently operates 135 units of emergency shelter, consisting of five congregate living programs in Boston and Cambridge that shelter 53 families, and 82 scattered-site apartments throughout the Metro Boston area. Hildebrand approaches each family’s situation as unique and believes every family has strengths upon which to build a brighter future. Families remain with Hildebrand until they are placed into permanent housing, usually within the Greater Boston area (or even within Hildebrand-owned properties). They are supported by Hildebrand’s Stabilization Services Program after placement into housing.

Our Impact Stabilization Services Hildebrand’s Stabilization Services program is designed to prevent the recurrence of homelessness; its primary focus is to help families remain stably housed for two years, post shelter. As families move into stable housing, they are immediately introduced to the Stabilization Case Managers who are focused solely on helping them maintain their housing, employment, childcare, and other supports and services now in place. Over the course of two years, the Stabilization Case Manager’s role is to help families develop a plan to increase economic mobility and establish other personal and family goals. These most often include priority areas for stabilization: credit, debt, CORI or legal issues, health or mental health challenges, budget, interpersonal interactions, disability, employment or school, parenting, and language skills. All stabilization families work toward long-term self-sufficiency, in safe, affordable housing.

120 Families

were supported through the Stabilization Services Program.

90% of Families that moved out of shelter remained stably housed for at least one year post-shelter.

Permanent Housing Hildebrand operates 11 units of permanent affordable housing, with plans to double it to 22 in 2021. The organization uses a comprehensive approach to case management, meeting clients where they are. Hildebrand’s long-standing assertion is that the sooner families obtain stable housing, the better they are positioned to get on the road to self-sufficiency and increase their economic mobility.

86 Families successfully transitioned out of shelter and into their own housing last year.

www.hild-selfhelp.org

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Meet the Families

One Bead Program Last year the third graders at Thomas J. Kenny Elementary School participated in the One Bead program where they were given $1,000 and were tasked to come up with something they could do to give back to their community. Ann Marie, who lived in one of Hildebrand’s shelters as a small child, took this opportunity to educate her peers on homelessness and her story. Since it can be lonely for children in shelter, Ann Marie suggested using the money to create journals so the children could have an outlet to write down their thoughts or draw.

We were able to meet up with Ann Marie and her classmates to have a discussion about homelessness and answer any questions the students had. After collecting the 90 journals they created, we distributed them to not only the shelter Ann Marie was in, but to our other congregate houses in Cambridge and Dorchester as well. Thank you, Anne Marie and the students at Thomas J. Kenny Elementary School, for thinking of the children in our shelters and spreading awareness around the issue of homelessness.

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2020 Annual Report

Supplemental Support Summer Camp

39 Children attended summer camp programs 5 Weeks

was the average length of time these children attended their summer camp program.

Workshops and Trainings

31 Trainings internally.

Holiday Supports

and informational sessions were held

111 Participants sessions.

attended these trainings and info

170 Turkeys

were distributed to families to celebrate Thanksgiving.

1978 Gifts were distrbuted thanks to our supporters during the holidays.

78 Families

attended Christmas in the City’s annual fesitivities in Boston for homeless families.

Family, Faith, and a Home Pierre is proud of his family. He and his wife, both originally from Haiti, have worked hard all their lives, and are the loving parents of a 17-year-old son, currently a senior at a local charter school. For them, it’s all about family, faith, and a home. Their son is an excellent student, and Pierre and his wife are looking forward to his graduation in June 2021. Pierre and his wife, however, started encountering problems. Pierre began suffering from heart disease and hypertension, which impacted his ability to work. Neither Pierre or his wife speak English, and both starting finding the language barrier increasingly difficult. When they first moved to Massachusetts, they moved in with friends but the apartment got too crowded. With all these challenges overwhelming the family, they were finally placed in Hildebrand’s program at Devon, one of Hildebrand’s congregate shelters. There they met Marc Jacques, Associate Director of Stabilization and Housing at Hildebrand and Marc changed their lives! Marc helped with their language barriers, made sure their son was still doing well in school, assisted Pierre with his application to SSI, and worked with them on their housing voucher applcation. The housing voucher came through in January and, even with the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, Marc helped them find an apartment in West Roxbury. They moved in at the beginning of September; Pierre and his wife are starting a new savings account; and their son is still a top student at his school. For Pierre and his family, it’s still all about family, faith, and a home – and now they have all three! www.hild-selfhelp.org

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Audited Financials (July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020)

Statements of Financial Position

Statements of Activities Revenue and Support Program Fees Grants Contributions Investment Income Other Income

2020 $6,686,693 $284,667 $37,580 $12,883 $842

2019 $6,477,301 $18,292 $85,111 $19,447 $5,136

Total Revenue

$7,022,665

$6,605,287

Expenses 2020 Housing & Supporting Services $6,193,545 General & Admin Support $637,528 Fundraising $80,871

2019 $5,783,721 $561,702 $152,373

$6,911,944

$6,497,796

Total Expenses

Revenue and Expenses

Assets Current Assets Property & Equiptment Other

2020 $3,611,741 $858,524 $259,444

2019 $2,745,812 $917,788 $251,451

Total Assets

$4,729,709

$3,915,051

Liabilities Current Liabilities Long-Term Liabilities

2020 $549,607 $1,201,346

2019 $234,873 $812,143

Total Liabilities

$1,750,953

$1,047,016

Net Assets Unrestricted Temporarily Restricted

2020 $2,808,330 $170,426

2019 $2,759,103 $108,932

Total Net Assets

$2,978,756

$2,868,035

Total Liabilities & Net Assets

$4,729,709

$3,915,051

Community Partners American Civil Liberties Union Massachusetts Birthday Wishes Boston Continuum of Care Boston Health Care for the Homeless Boston Housing Authority Boston Medical Center Budget Buddies Cambridge Chamber of Commerce Cambridge Community Learning Center Cambridge Community Television Cambridge Continuum of Care

Cambridge Health Alliance

Cambridge Nonprofit Coalition Central Square Business Association Community Servings Cradles to Crayons Department of Children and Families Families First Parenting Program Furnishing Hope Harpoon/Mass Bay Brewing Company Homes for Families HomeStart Horizons for Homeless Children Institute for Health and Recovery Jewish Vocational Services Led2Serve

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2020 Annual Report

Lovin’ Spoonfuls

Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless Metro Housing Boston MIT Job Connector The Mission Continues The Parenting Journey Project Hope Project Place Providers’ Council Share Our Strength Sommerville Food Program Tufts Health Plan Women’s Lunch Place YMCA of Greater Boston YWCA Cambridge YW Boston

FY2020 Supporters Individuals

Foundations

Glenda L Allsopp

Joan Hardy

Ms Alice Poltorick

Kelly Blackburn

James J. Hockhousen

Erica Schwarz

Wilton Baker

Madonna Hockhousen

Ellen Semonoff

Wendell & Margo C Bourne

Joo Hyun IM

Daniel Sharoff

Wendell Joseph

Mary Shetterly

Jane Kamensky

Elisabeth Spak

Vyshnavi Karra

James Spriggs

Nicole Keller

Michael Steinkrauss

Krystle Kelly

Anna Swan

Laura Landy

Richard and Anne Taylor

Mark H. Lippolt

Mary Teague

Clifford Long

Judith Thomas

Deborah Lovell

Beth Tilley

Andrew Bundy Joshua Chaitin-Pollak Brian and Beth Clymer Richard and Judith Cohen Audrey Cunningham Bobbie D’Alessandro Julie Dalton Denise Diaianni

Charity Aid Foundation of America Cummings Foundation The Boston Foundation Organizations Beacon Hill Nursery School Boston Architectural College Cambridge Public Library Church of Christ Milton Community Servings Cradles to Crayons Dignity Matters

Kelly Mann

Martin Turnbull

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School

Rev. Ellis Washington

East End House

Letha Eldo

Daryl L. Mark and David Nelson

Mary Rita Weschler

Follen Church Society

Gregg Ellenberg

Nicolas Masse

Larry Ellenberg

Catherine McDermottTingle

Christine Dorchak Sam Elder

Annie Falk Jean Joseph Florvensky

Stacy McGuire

Food For Free Corporations

International Christian Church

Amazon Smiles

MIT Office of Government and Community Relations

Boston Beer Company

Sarah Forrester

Bruce Miller

David Francis

Julissa Milligan

Andrew Frederick

Debbie Monosson

Trish Gallagher

Shiela Y. Moore

Cambridge Trust Company

Anthony Galluccio

Loretta Moresco

Citizens Energy

Ashley Ganem

Vivien Morris

Compass

Irene F. Goodman

Awele Alexander Ogwu

Hampton Inn

Jill Gorski

Geoff B Pardo & Lissa D. Galluccio

Harvard Vanguard

Danielle Hardoon

Boston Private Cambridge Savings Bank

ICorps Technologies

Northeastern University Latinx Student Cultural Center Pajama Program St. Paul AME Church Trinity Parish of Newton Center United Way of Mass. Bay and Merrimack Valley Public Funders

Network for Good

Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development

Novartis

Homeworks

The Engine

City of Boston

Isobar

City of Cambridge

www.hild-selfhelp.org

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Our Vision

Every family has a home

Our Mission

Hildebrand partners with families experiencing homelessness. We endeavor to break the cycle of homelessness by providing shelter, permanent housing, training and work readiness programs, and life skills development. We restore hope and build brighter futures.

Family Self-Help Center, Inc.

614 Massachusetts Avenue, 3rd Floor Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 617-491-5752 | www.hild-selfhelp.org

hildebrandselfhelp

@hildselfhelp