Housing Families Inc.

This month our Clinical Director, Elizabeth Kia, LICSW and her team visited the Agassiz Village in Maine for Visit Your Kids Day. And what they saw was amazing! They were given a tour of the property (all 337 acres of it), a brief history of its founder, and witnessed the youth embracing all of the super cool activities like snorkeling, sailing, high ropes course, archery, art, dance, yoga, boating, and so much more.

Housing Families partners with Agassiz Village through the Homeless Campership Fund to send youth in our programs to a 12-day over night summer camp in Maine. They have been an amazing organization to work with and getting to see them in action was so inspiring. Thank you Agassiz Village!

Thanks Cam and friends for hosting a lemonade stand on behalf of CKP. We love when kids want to give back and support us so if a lemonade stand is of interest, let us know and we can provide you with some digital print outs. Alissa Morris

We are grateful to the Massachusetts Bar Foundation for their recent grant to Housing Families! This funding will be used to provide immigration legal services for our clients experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. This will meet a critical need for our community. Thank you!

2,525 total meals delivered -- wow! Thank you Cory, Max, and The Food Drive 🥳

Housing Families Celebrates the signing of the monumental Affordable Homes Act!

This week, Housing Families’ CEO, Laura Rosi, had the pleasure of attending Governor Maura Healey's signing into law the historic and monumental $5.16B Affordable Homes Act. This legislation has been Housing Families’ advocacy priority since its unveiling nearly a year ago. Since then, we have been working alongside numerous partners to ensure that critical pieces within the bill - that are most central to our mission of achieving housing equity and wellbeing for all - remained intact throughout the legislative process.

A few key wins included in the AHA’s 49 policy initiatives include: $1.6B for over 43,000 public housing units to be restored and brought back online; the Supportive Housing Pool Fund to provide critical operational assistance for supportive housing services; eviction sealing to protect tenants; and increased home ownership opportunities.

We are thrilled to be celebrating the passage of this bill with everyone, and, as State Senator Lydia Edwards pointed out, this is not "mission accomplished." There is still much work to be done, but we are grateful that Housing Families and everyone else in the housing field will have more tools in the toolbox to work with as we continue serving unhoused families and individuals in our communities.

Thank you, Governor Maura Healey, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, Secretary Ed Augustus, Speaker Ron Mariano, Senate President Karen E. Spilka, Chair Aaron Michlewitz, Chair Senator Michael Rodrigues, Chair James Arciero, Chair Lydia Edwards, and all our tireless partners in leading the advocacy including Citizens' Housing and Planning Association, Inc. CHAPA, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, United Way, Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance, and all members of the Supportive Housing Pipeline Coalition for your leadership and persistence in passing this critical bill.

Read more and our full blog post here: https://housingfamilies.org/in-the-news/housing-families-celebrates-the-signing-of-the-monumental-affordable-homes-act/

Photo Source: MA Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities

Did you know that Housing Families’ legal team conducts Chelsea Housing Legal Clinics monthly at both La Colaborativa and The Neighborhood Developers? Our attorneys are there representing Housing Families to give residents a secondary location to talk about their housing.

You can find our Housing Legal Clinics for City of Chelsea Massachusetts- Gov residents at:

La Colaborativa – Every Thursday from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

The Neighborhood Developers – Every first and third Tuesday of the month, from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM

These clinics are a great tool to answer your housing questions, discuss the eviction process, connect you to relevant resources, and provide brief advice.

For today’s , a reflection from Molly Abrahamson, Director of External Relations, “This week truly exemplified how lucky we are to have the partnership of Housing Families’ philanthropic supporters.

On Wednesday we spent the day with the kind and generous Greystar Apartments team, who not only hosted a fundraiser for us at their annual staff appreciation, but also filled up mine car and my colleagues’ cars with donations for our Back to School Drive. This morning our friends at Leading Edge Real Estate brought more donations for the drive, unpacked the cars, and organized the numerous supplies into all the backpacks. The Greystar team is volunteering next week too!

After that, I headed to our Individual Shelter & EnrichEd program spaces to give our dedicated supporters at IBEW2222 a tour. They brought with them a check for funding for our annual teen camper field trip to Canobie Lake park, as well as two gift cards that IBEW Local 2222 members won in a raffle at their staff meeting and chose to donate to Housing Families.

Finally, I headed to Connor's Kindness Project to refill my car with tons of backpacks, Kindness Kits, giveaways for our upcoming Client Appreciation Carnival, and hygiene products for our Street Outreach Program (pictured here is me with their Executive Director, Sharon Marrama). If you didn’t know, Connor's Kindness Project was founded by Sharon’s grandson Connor when he was 12 years old, and their mission is inspired by his and his family’s compassionate desire to help other kids and communities through kindness. All these activities are just two days out of the week!

Philanthropy is critical to our ability to respond to community needs, and I am moved by the generosity I witness every single day. We are so grateful to everyone who donates their resources, time, and energy to Housing Families. We ❤️ you!”

We had a blast at the Annual Greystar Apartments New England Employee Appreciation Event & Fundraiser today! We were honored to be selected as one of the beneficiaries of the fundraiser, alongside two other incredible organizations.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Spooner House.

Thank you to Chelsea Braga and Rebecca Wills for facilitating and inviting us to the fun and impactful event, to Rocio Simon for connecting us to the amazing Greystar New England team, and to everyone at Greystar for your continued generosity.

More photos and total raised to follow soon!

We are so excited to share another youth volunteer ! Tyler and Caleb raised $600 for Housing Families through their lemonade stand! WOW! Congrats, Tyler and Caleb on your amazing work and huge thank you for your support!

Technology tribulations? Internet irritations? Come on by to our weekly tech help drop-in hour, today at 2:00! No appointment needed, just make sure you bring any relevant devices or usernames/passwords that you may need. Assistance is on a first come, first served basis. If you have any question, call 781-324-0218, and ask for Katie!

It’s thankful Thursday: Today we are thankful to the Maximus Foundation for their continued support and generosity each year!

Housing Families is absolutely thrilled to welcome Renee Cammarata Hamilton as our Senior Director of Policy and Strategic Partnerships. Renee is a seasoned community health advocate, with deep experience in the area north of Boston. Most recently, she directed the Cambridge Health Alliance’s Health Improvement Team, a team of community health professionals who facilitate multi sectoral coalitions that convene, assess, plan and act to improve community health.

Throughout her career, Renee’s work has focused on addressing inequities caused by structural racism. She has consistently worked to elevate the voices of historically disenfranchised communities to correct the inequities preventing them from achieving full health and wellbeing.

From Renee, "I am thrilled to join Housing Families to address inequities in housing and wellbeing through identifying root causes and advocating for systemic changes needed to improve housing equity and wellbeing for all.”

Welcome Renee! We are so lucky to have you.

Thanks to our employees and customers who have donated to our collection bin for the Malden-based Housing Families Inc. school supplies drive. The drop off bin will be in our Montvale Branch through August 9, 2024. Let's make the bin overflow!
The wish list includes:
⁃ Small, medium, and large backpacks (new, quality, and durable)
⁃ 1” and 2” binders
⁃ Subject Dividers
⁃ 2-pocket folders
⁃ Ball point pens
⁃ #2 and mechanical pencils
⁃ highlighters
⁃ pencil sharpeners
⁃ magic markers
⁃ colored pencils and crayons (no bigger than a 24-pack)
⁃ index cards
⁃ loose leaf paper
⁃ rulers
⁃ erasers
⁃ glue bottles and sticks
If you can't come into the bank, you can check out the Amazon Wishlist - https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2BCFLKV4QXJFG/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_3 or deliver items to 919 Eastern Avenue, Malden between 9 am and 5 pm Monday-Friday or reach out to [email protected].
We thank you in advance for your support!

Thank you Kiwanis Club of Medford for your very generous donation to our Backpack Drive to support back to school supplies for Medford students in our programs! We are so grateful to the club for being leaders in our community and providing committed support for student learning each year.

Pictured from left to right, Housing Families staff Anthony Presti, Development Associate, Molly Abrahamson, Director, External Relations, and Kiwanis Members State Representative Paul Donato & Sam Tarabelsi, Provider Relations Specialist at Tufts Medicine.

Huge thank you to the Curate Partners team for volunteering for our Back to School Drive last week! We enjoyed meeting members of the Curate team, who not only volunteer but also donate a ton of supplies each year. Thank you so much for being one of the amazing teams we can count on to support student learning!

Check out these important resources from our friends at Cambridge Health Alliance and !

$11,022 – that’s how much was raised at this year’s Young Professionals Advisory Council Event, the Summer Auction & Cocktail reception!

Shout-out to our incredible YPAC team for your commitment to Housing Families, to everyone who bid and supported the auction, and to our fabulous event & auction sponsors:

Event sponsors: Wi******er Savings Bank StonehamBank United Way of Massachusetts Bay

Auction sponsors: Bruins Trader Joe's Boda Borg Boston Hotel Commonwealth Boston Larry and Valerie Post, and Elizabeth Keeley

THANK YOU!

As you plan your summer outings, don't forget our annual EPIC community day!
Malden Overcomes Day is a FREE fun-filled day for the community brought to you by Malden Overcoming Addiction...just because.
because... we LOVE our city!
because... we want to celebrate that we are 10 years old and want to say Thank You for the tremendous community support we receive!
because... public events build stronger communities, and a stronger community is a healthier and happier Malden!
Please SHARE, ALL are welcome!

OLIVE OIL DRIVE! Our local food pantries are always in need of cooking oil, especially in summer when donations run low. Donate at any of our Melrose Community Donation Bins:
~ Beacon Hill Wine/Spirits/Gourmet
~ Buckalew's General Store
~ Cambridge Savings Bank
~ Follow Your Art Community Studios
~ Starbucks
~ Sweet Spot Bakery

Are you or someone you know expecting a new baby? 😊 Join our Summer Community Baby Shower if you live in Massachusetts! Registration closes tomorrow.

Here's the link to register: [https://forms.gle/ybbKLXwX9pbf3MwR8](https://forms.gle/ybbKLXwX9pbf3MwR8)

City of Everett Eliot

It’s not too late to spice up your Summer with some items from the YPAC Summer Auction! https://ypacsummerauction2024.funraise.org/
Check out some awesome items like 4 tickets to the Redsox vs Rangers on Tuesday, August 13th at 7:10 pm, right at Fenway Park!
This auction is being hosted by our Young Professionals Advisory Council, and funds will be used to support Housing Families’ programs! The auction will be ending tomorrow, July 24th at 8:00 pm! And join us tomorrow for the Auction Cocktail Reception from 6:00 to 8:30 at The Point Bar & Restaurant in Boston!

Be sure to check out the YPAC Summer Auction! https://ypacsummerauction2024.funraise.org/ for amazing items like these two wonderful baskets!
One of these contains luxurious skincare and bath products, a perfect basket for your day of relaxation! And the other has some delicious snack items from Trader Joe’s!
This auction is being held by our Young Professionals Advisory Council, and raised funds will support Housing Families’ critical wraparound services. The auction will be ending tomorrow, July 24th at 8:00 pm! And join us tomorrow for the Auction Cocktail Reception from 6:00 to 8:30 at The Point Bar & Restaurant in Boston!

A friendly reminder that TOMORROW 7/24 is Diaper day for registered families ONLY!

If you want to be part of the diaper donation for NEXT month, you can enroll by calling our office AFTER Diaper day 🐣

🏫 Preparing for the new school year starts now! Support Housing Families Inc. Back to School Drive today.

StonehamBank team members Kevin Marquis, Justin Demarco, and Bob Rossignol, who is also a member of the Board of Directors at Housing Families, have already made generous donations to this initiative. We invite you to join them in ensuring every child is prepared for the upcoming school year. Let’s make a difference together! 💛📚

Stop by our Stoneham location anytime between now and August 10 to donate items. Here’s how you can help - donate any of the items needed below:

• Small, medium, and large backpacks (new, quality, and durable)
• 1” and 2” binders
• Scissors
• Subject Dividers
• 2-pocket folders
• Ballpoint pens
• #2 and mechanical pencils
• Highlighters
• Pencil sharpeners
• Magic markers
• Colored pencils and crayons (no bigger than a 24-pack)
• Index cards
• Loose leaf paper
• Rulers
• Erasers
• Glue bottles and sticks
• Notebooks

If you have any questions, please reach out to Jennie at [email protected].

Have you checked out our Summer Auction yet? https://ypacsummerauction2024.funraise.org/

We just added a class-pack from Soul City Yoga! Check it out and other amazing items like luxurious vacations, Red Sox tickets, a solo stove, and more!

The auction is led by our Young Professionals Advisory Committee, and funds raised will support Housing Families critical wraparound services.