Hildebrand FY23 Annual Report

Family Self-Help Center, Inc.

FY23 ANNUAL REPORT 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A Message from the CEO

1

A Message from the Board Chair

2

Hildebrand Board of Directors and Hildebrand

2

History

3

Homeless Family Demographics

4

Our Impact

5

Our Families

6

Our Future

7

News Items

8-9

FY23 Supporters

10-11

Hildebrand Community Partners

12

Audited Financials

13

A Message from the CEO I’m pleased to share this update of our work in FY23. It has been a year filled with continued expansion, demonstrated resilience, and displays of appreciation. The organization’s growth over this past year is in part due to the increase in families experiencing homelessness. In so doing, our staff and the families they support continue to display remarkable resilience in these very challenging times.

We are now well into the process of implementing our Strategic Plan, and one area of focus has been to target high-risk populations. This year, immigrant families emerged as having the highest need for shelter. We expanded the emergency shelter capacity by 16%, increasing Hildebrand’s total units to 157.

Fortunately, our plan coincided with the influx of immigrants. As a part of this expansion, we opened a new congregate living program in Cambridge. This was accomplished in a few short months, with the support of the City of Cambridge.

The lack of affordable housing impacts the demand for shelter. The unhoused are at higher risk for poor health, decreased social connection, and emotional unwellness, which impacts the quality of life in our communities in general. Massachusetts experienced a dramatic rise in the demand for emergency shelter due to migrants this year. Those who come to Hildebrand have always received support for their whole selves, even as the entire ecosystem of providers (city, state, public and private) are stressed. The Student Success Education Initiative for school-age children helped more children this year by expanding the program during the summer to include tutoring and academic support. In realization of Hildebrand’s vision that Every Family Has a Home, we expanded the number of Hildebrand’s Housing Specialists team to help families move out of shelter into permanent homes, and remain stably housed.

In these times of stressed systems, I am so appreciative of Hildebrand’s remarkable resilience. Our staff members are always focused on doing what is needed and necessary – and then go above and beyond to make sure that every child and parent is safe, healing, and moving forward with their lives. This resilience continues year after year, even as the organization continues to expand services. Hildebrand’s resilience comes from a team spirit that allows us to work together toward one goal of addressing the complex needs of families experiencing homelessness. This endless resilience of spirit and organizational culture fills me with appreciation – for Hildebrand’s staff, Board, and growing community of funders, donors, community partners, volunteers and in-kind collaborators who come together to make sure families without homes can get back on the pathway to housing and thriving.

We are all interconnected, and interdependent. Thank you for reading this Annual Report, and for your support of our work.

Shiela Y. Moore | CEO

1

A Message from the Board Chair

Hildebrand’s vision: Every family has a home. This seems so fundamental to a family’s wellbeing, to a child’s need for stability, yet we are seeing an unprecedented rise in homelessness in Massachusetts. For Hildebrand, this means an ever-evolving strategy to meet the needs of families where they are and help them to overcome the hurdles and obstacles they face. I recently visited some of Hildebrand’s emergency shelters and permanent housing properties and met several of the remarkable families who are working hard to rebuild their lives in safe, affordable homes of their own. I was struck by the connection between Hildebrand’s staff and families as they work together. I listened to a young mother from Nigeria, with a child with physical disabilities, as she shared her journey into homelessness. She then explained how Hildebrand changed their trajectory with shelter, supportive services for her daughter, assistance with immigration and language hurdles, and finding permanent housing. She and her daughter will soon be moving into their new, wheelchair-accessible apartment and building the economic stability needed to thrive. Hildebrand has changed the life of this mother and her child, with its diverse and compassionate staff, innovative programs, and network of resources and community contacts.

This past year has continued to show Hildebrand’s strength and capacity for strategic growth. The number of emergency shelter units increased again; summer experience and enrichment activities were expanded to serve more children in shelter; new partnerships were formed to give families the essentials they need in their homes; another 43 families moved out of shelter and into affordable permanent homes; and Hildebrand’s Strategic Plan’s goals and action items continue to be realized, as the Plan moves into its 2nd year.

As the number of families experiencing homelessness and seeking shelter continues to increase, Hildebrand’s resources and programs continue to expand and grow also. Working in partnership with the Commonwealth, community collaborators, and supporters such as you, the organization will continue to change the lives of some of the most vulnerable families in our community. Thank you for your connection to Hildebrand, and I look forward to continuing to share the impact of our work.

Kelly Blackburn Chair | Hildebrand Board of Directors

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Hildebrand Board of Directors OFFICERS Kelly Blackburn, Chair

MEMBERS Anthony D. Galluccio, Esq.

Kelly S. Mann, Vice Chair

Sarah A. Holmes

Glenda Allsopp, Treasurer

Jessica Howe

Michelle Meiser, Clerk

Wendell Joseph Clifford Long Dariela Villon-Maga Reverend Ellis Washington

Hildebrand History Hildebrand Family Self-Help Center was born out of a desire for economic justice. Hildebrand is the legacy of the social action ministry of St. Paul AME Church in Cambridge. It is because Blacks were denied the ability to worship in white churches that led to the founding of the African Methodist Episcopal movement in the 19th century and the opening of St. Paul AME Church in Cambridge 150 years ago which, in turn, founded Hildebrand. In 1986, Reverend Leroy Attles’ discovery of a homeless woman sitting on the steps of the church sparked its outreach and shelter through the Hildebrand Outreach Center. A partnership between St. Paul AME Church and the City of Cambridge supported the development of these building as shelters for families experiencing homelessness and two years later, Hildebrand was founded as an independent 501(c)(3) organization. Hildebrand is named for Reverend Richard Allen Hildebrand, the regional bishop who authorized the rehabilitation of the former parsonage for use as its first shelter in 1988.

Hildebrand represents the lived experience of the disenfranchised and the fight for equality. Family homelessness is rooted in race and gender bias, wage inequality, unemployment, displacement, housing discrimination, and lack of affordable housing. Hildebrand remains committed, every day, to transitioning families out of homelessness to safe, affordable, permanent housing while working to disrupt systems that lead to poverty and homelessness. Hildebrand’s history is the foundation upon which we build brighter futures for families experiencing homelessness. We are committed—now more than ever—to continue working with, and on behalf of, vulnerable families in the fight for justice and equality.

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Homeless Family Demographics FAMILY HOMELESSNESS IN THE UNITED STATES ME AK

10.1

OR

ID

10.9

ID

5.1

CA 8.1

6.6

NV 2.1

WY 6.6

AZ

4.2

4.2

UT 4

NM 4

HI

21.1

MN

ND

MT

WA

11.2

5.1

NH

VT

SD 5.9

CO 7.4

TX

3.3

8.3

NE 5.6

OK 5

WI IA

4.8

KS 3.4

5.1

MO 5

LA

2.1

MI IL 4

AR 1.6

IN

KY 3

MS 1.5

3.5

TN 3.9

4.3

WV 2

AL

2.2

NY

OH 3.5

VA 3.1

GA 4.1

PA

MD 4.7

SC

6.2

NC

11.6

35.9

DE

MA

NJ 4.6

21

6.9

CT

9.3

Adults and children in families make up about 30% of the homeless population in the US. On a single night in January 2023:  An estimated 57,563 family households—or 186,084 people in families—were identified as homeless.  Approximately 17,385 people in families were living on the street, in a car, or in another place not meant for human habitation.

RI

4.3

4.5

5.5

DC

4.7

95

(December 2023, National Alliance to End Homelessness)

2.7

 Three states and the District of Columbia have rates far higher than the national average (District of Columbia: 95.0; New York: 35.9; Hawaii: 21.1; Massachusetts: 21.0).

FL

5.9

2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, Pt. 1.

(National Alliance to End Homelessness: Family Homelessness in the United States: a State-by-State Snapshot; February 20, 2018 | Data and Graphics)

FAMILY HOMELESSNESS IN MASSACHUSETTS There is a shortage of 175,367 rental homes affordable and available to extremely low income households (ELI), whose incomes are at or below the poverty guideline or 30% of their area median income (AMI). Many of these households are severely cost burdened, spending more than half of their income on housing. Severely cost burdened poor households are more likely than other renters to sacrifice other necessities like healthy food and healthcare to pay the rent, and to experience unstable housing situations like evictions.

(National Low Income Housing Coalition)

The 2023 Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a 2-bedroom apartment in Massachusetts is $1,893, the second highest in the country, behind Hawaii. The FMR in Boston is $2,635/month. To afford this rent while still being able to pay other key expenses, i.e. to spend no more than 30% of income on housing, a household must earn at least $105,400/year or $50.67/hour. (Family Promise Metrowest)

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During the 2020-2021 academic year, 19,954 students experienced homelessness in public schools across Massachusetts. 78% of the students identified as homeless during the 2019-2020 school year were doubled-up with others, while 11% stayed at shelters, 7% stayed at hotels or motels, and 4% stayed in unsheltered situations. (Family Promise Metrowest, “Understanding Family Homelessness”)

Our Impact Hildebrand works relentlessly to support children and families experiencing homelessness, on their journey from shelter and supportive services to permanent housing and economic stability. Below is information about Hildebrand’s impact during FY23.

NUMBER OF CLIENTS 5% permanent housing

IN FY 2023

355 FAMILIES

1,085

22% stabilization 2

54% emergency shelter

19% stabilization 1

INDIVIDUALS

50% CHILDREN

AGES OF CHILDREN

SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN

9% 18-24 children 33% 0-4

19% 13-17 [school-age]

39% 5-12 [school-age]

43

FAMILIES PLACED IN PERMANENT HOUSING

90%

ETHNICITY 2% Other or Unknown 10% White

277

39% Latinx

FAMILIES STABLY HOUSED FOR 2 YEARS

49% Black or African American 5

Our Families Hildebrand changes the lives of children and their parents by working together to realize a shared vision: every family has a home. As more families face housing instability and homelessness, Hildebrand continues to grow to meet this need. In FY23, Hildebrand worked with 355 families through its emergency shelter, supportive programs and resources, permanent housing, and ongoing stabilization services. The result: 1,085 individuals – half of whom are children – are not facing homelessness and are now healing, stabilizing, and working toward self-sufficiency.

EMERGENCY SHELTER AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES Hildebrand provides 157 families with emergency shelter in Boston and Cambridge, with congregate, co-shelter, and scattered site living. While in shelter, every family receives comprehensive supportive services including case management, education and employment resources, housing search and benefits application assistance, mental and physical health services, immigration support, and any other resources needed. Hildebrand also provides gifts, toys, clothing, personal items, and food resources to make sure that everyone is comfortable, safe, and healthy in their shelter situation.

PERMANENT HOUSING Hildebrand has always been at the forefront of the movement to end family homelessness by helping families achieve stability and self-sufficiency so they can leave shelter and move back into permanent homes. Hildebrand currently owns 22 affordable apartments in Boston and Cambridge.

STABILIZATION SERVICES Once families transition into permanent housing, they continue to work with our Stabilization Services team for two years to ensure housing stability. During this time, the families and Case Managers develop plans to increase economic mobility and establish other personal and family goals. Maintaining these relationships has the desired outcome: after two years, 90% of the families in the Stabilization Services program stay securely housed.

6

Our Future

FY23 was the first year of Hildebrand’s Strategic Plan, guided by a staff-driven Implementation Team (iTeam). The Strategic Plan will transform Hildebrand and its impact on families experiencing homelessness, while disrupting the systems that lead to poverty and homelessness. Goals were accomplished in each of the four Strategic Directions, and provided motivation for the Plan’s strategic movement forward!

1 2 3 4

Strategic Directions

Goals

Develop or acquire real estate for more affordable housing and to support organizational growth

1.

Research possible models for the development of homes, services, and offices 2. Develop and/or acquire real estate 3. Build affordable housing

1. Build a public policy and advocacy agenda 2. Work to influence legislation 3. Change mindsets around causes and solutions to family homelessness 4. Create strong partnerships

Bring about systems change to disrupt the cycle of homelessness

Build the capacity needed to grow the organization

1. Increase revenue 2. Create a specialty shelter (e.g. for mental health focus, substance use disorders, immigrant populations) 3. Hire subject matter experts in key areas (real estate, law, health, etc.)

4. Ensure we have the workforce capacity to meet the growing needs of Hildebrand

Create training programs based on client needs/feedback 2. Provide or connect clients to affordable transportation 3. Launch social entrepreneurship/Hildebrand business 4. Provide a financial stability and asset building program (including home ownership) 1.

Ensure access to resources for clients

Goal Accomplished!

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News Items

Bombas Socks Hildebrand is now a Bombas Giving Partner! The first shipment of 1,000 socks was received in time for summer fun and enrichment activities, and all Hildebrand’s children and families will get socks regularly moving forward.

Bombas is a comfort-focused, basics apparel brand with a mission to help those in need.

The company was originally founded in 2013 because socks are the #1 most requested clothing item at homeless shelters. For every item purchased, a specially-designed item is donated to someone at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness. To date, Bombas has donated over 100 million items.

Holiday Market HILDEBRAND CELEBRATES! The children and their parents in Hildebrand’s programs are always our first priority, and staff work relentlessly to create safe, comfortable living environments and to celebrate family accomplishment and special occasions!

In May, some of Hildebrand’s congregates celebrated Mother’s Day and in June, all of the congregates shared group meals to celebrate the dads for Father’s Day. Also, for each and every birthday, Hildebrand partners with the Birthday Wishes “Birthday-in-a-Box” program so that families have what they need to celebrate these important days! Hildebrand provides the name, age, and gender of the birthday child along with ages of siblings. Birthday Wishes sends the boxes to Hildebrand; each box comes with goody bags, party hats, table clothes and plates, wrapped gifts, and supplies to bake a birthday cake. Hildebrand staff drop the boxes off with the families who get to enjoy a fun, age-appropriate birthday celebration!

8

Hildebrand hosted its first in-person “Holiday Market” in December so parents could come and select holiday gifts and warm winter clothing forx their children. For the December holidays, 142 families received gifts, clothing, toys, books, gift cards and other necessities to ensure the children and their parents had happy celebrations. Special thanks to our volunteers from volunteers from St. Paul AME Church and Loomis Sayles & Company who provided assistance with the shopping and also looking after some of the young children who came with their mothers.

HILDEBRAND OPENED A NEW CONGREGATE SHELTER IN CAMBRIDGE Hildebrand opened another 12 units of emergency shelter in Cambridge, thanks to a partnership with the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) (formerly the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development [DHCD]) and the City of Cambridge. Hildebrand’s new congregate shelter program is located at 2222 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge and provides emergency shelter for 12 families experiencing homelessness. Once in shelter, the children and their parents will receive comprehensive supportive programs and resources to help them stabilize and get ready to move into permanent homes.

Thirty-five years ago, Hildebrand started with only one shelter on the grounds of St. Paul AME Church in Cambridge, on Bishop Allen Drive. Years later, another congregate shelter opened on the church’s property on Columbia Street. The new congregate at 2222 Massachusetts Avenue represents the first time Hildebrand has opened a congregate program in the City of Cambridge beyond the grounds of St. Paul AME Church, since our founding. It is also our largest Cambridge congregate and will represent a significant step forward for Cambridge in supporting families experiencing homelessness and immigrant communities as well. Hildebrand now has 157 units of emergency shelter.

Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School

MIT Volunteers Hildebrand hosted a group of volunteers from MIT to help clean and organize at one of the Cambridge congregate shelters. The volunteers created attractive learning and play spaces, inside and outside, for the children in the congregates, and the results show what a wonderful job they did!

A third-grade class at the Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School in Cambridge raised money to support Hildebrand by making elastic bracelets which they sold at the school, their afterschool programs, and neighbors. As their teacher expressed to Hildebrand: “Your organization inspired my students to come together as a team in a way I haven’t seen in my ten years of teaching. I’m so grateful for the work you do in our community, but I hope you know that your influence extends beyond the families you support directly.”

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FY23 Supporters

INDIVIDUAL DONORS John Alam and Sylvie Gregoire

Michelle Meiser

Glenda Allsopp

John Melaugh

Sam Bagnall

Deborah Monosson

Kelly Blackburn

Shiela Y. Moore

Wendell and Margo Bourne

Vivien Morris

Kathleen Carney

Josie Patterson

Joshua Chaitin-Pollak

Judith Perlman

Richard and Judy Cohen

Joshua Pinnolis

Christopher Cook

Michael Plourde

Geoffrey Davis

Alice Poltorick

Dorothy Derick

Brian Pratt

Kelly Dishner

Ellen Semonoff

Larry Ellenberg

Tom Sheehan

Anthony Galluccio, Esq.

Mary Shetterly

Jacqueline Gramer

David Smith

Michael Hadley

Christopher Stephenson

Sarah Holmes

Anna K. Swan

Jessica Howe

Caitlin Thornbrugh

Wendell Joseph

Dariela Villon Maga

Jane Kamensky

Marcia Walsh

Lori Lander

Reverend Ellis Washington

Paul Lee

Joshua Weigner

Clifford Long

Mary Rita Weschler

Kelly Mann

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FOUNDATIONS Cambridge Community Foundation Give Lively Foundation Cummings Foundation

ORGANIZATIONS Beacon Hill Nursey Benjamin Banneker Charter School CHAPA City of Cambridge Public Library Cradles to Crayons Dignity Matters East End House

Citizens Energy Shelter Winter Assistance Program iCorps Technologies Loomis, Sayles & Company ReNAgade Therapeutics Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation Town Fair Tire Foundation

PUBLIC FUNDERS City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Housing City of Cambridge Homeworks Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities

Follen Church Greater Boston Spelman & Morehouse College Alumni Harvard Memorial Church HireNow Lovin’ Spoonfuls Mercy Worldwide MIT Office of Government and Community Relations St. James Church Trinity Parish of Newton Centre United Way

CORPORATIONS Amazon Smiles Atlantic Capital Partners Bamboo Health Benevity Cambridge Savings Charitable Foundation Cambridge Trust Company

Summer Fun and Learning In 2023, Hildebrand enrolled children in 10 different camps throughout the greater Cambridge and Boston area, and in summer learning programs at Cambridge and Boston Public Schools. Thirteen teenagers found summer jobs. Hildebrand provided summer activity bags full of toys, books, and art supplies to 95 children in shelter and younger children received 22 vouchers for day care programs. A highlight of the summer for everyone at Hildebrand! A high school sophomore, currently in shelter with her mother, is so good at basketball that she was invited to attend two different basketball showcase camps over the summer! She chose to attend the showcase camp in Kentucky, and has already received offers to play Division 1 basketball at four different schools. Needless to say, everyone is very excited at what the future promises for this wonderful teen.

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Hildebrand Community Partners

American Civil Liberties Union Massachusetts

FamilyAid/CHIME Mapping Project

Big Brothers Big Sisters

Food For Free

Birthday Wishes Boston College Boston Continuum of Care Boston Health Care for the Homeless Boston Housing Authority Boston Medical Center Boston Public Schools Boston University Budget Buddies Cambridge Chamber of Commerce Cambridge Community Learning Center Cambridge Community Television Cambridge Continuum of Care Cambridge Health Alliance Cambridge Housing Authority Cambridge Multi-Service Center Cambridge Nonprofit Coalition Cambridge Public Schools Central Square Business Improvement District CHAPA Colgate University Community Servings Cradles to Crayons Department of Children and Families Dignity Matters Everett Public Schools

12

Families First Parenting Program Furnishing Hope Harpoon/Mass Bay Brewing Company Homes for Families HomeStart Horizons for Homeless children Institute of Contemporary Art Institute for Health and Recovery Jewish Vocations Services Led2Serve Lesley University Lovin’ Spoonfuls Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless Metro Housing Boston MIT The Mission Continues The Parenting Journey Project Hope Project Place Providers’ Council Share Our Strength Somerville Food Program Suffolk University Tufts Health Plan United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley YMCA of Greater Boston

Audited Financials

Statements of Activities 2023

2022

Program Fees

$9,090,198

$7,531,246

Grants

$404,228

$382,819

Contributions

$104,039

$98,964

Investment Income

$34,847

$(26,062)

Other Income

$5,279

$25,195

$9,638,591

$8,012,162

$7,761,717

$6,424,126

$1,358,489

$907,507

$176,879

$169,589

$9,297,085

$7,501,222

Current Assets

$4,808,951

$4,356,636

Property & Equipment

$4,053,504

$4,139,063

Other

$1,010,493

$344,143

TOTAL ASSETS

$9,872,948

$8,839,842

Current Liabilities

$1,047,655

$787,314

Long-Term Liabilities

$4,556,779

$4,125,520

TOTAL LIABILITIES

$5,604,434

$4,912,834

$4,132,490

$3,788,275

Temporarily Restricted

$136,024

$138,733

TOTAL NET ASSETS

$4,268,514

$3,927,008

TOTAL LIABILITIES & NET ASSETS

$9,872,948

$8,839,842

REVENUE AND SUPPORT

TOTAL REVENUE EXPENSES Housing & Supportive Services General & Admin Support Fundraising TOTAL EXPENSES Statements of Financial Positions ASSETS

LIABILITIES

NET ASSETS Unrestricted

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OUR VISION Every family has a home.

OUR MISSION Hildebrand’s mission is to transition families out of homelessness to safe, affordable permanent housing while working to disrupt systems that lead to poverty and homelessness.

614 Massachusetts Avenue, 3rd Floor Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 617.491.5752 www.hild-selfhelp.org 14

hildebrandselfhelp @hildselfhelp company/hildebrand-family-self-help-center-inc.