Cambridge, Mass – Heading Home, Inc., one of the Boston area’s largest agencies devoted to helping the homeless, announced today that it recently completed an “Up & Out” move with the assistance of The Boston Company Asset Management, LLC, a BNY Mellon company. Up & Out is Heading Home’s signature volunteer program, which pairs groups of volunteers with local homeless families and individuals who are making a milestone move from shelter into permanent housing.
A single mother and her five-year-old son, found relief in Heading Home’s services when she lost her job and subsequently their apartment. She is currently enrolled in a job training program. Because of her commitment to her child and her demonstrated desire to become more self-sufficient, she was selected to receive an Up & Out move. Located in a Boston neighborhood, the apartment will provide her family with a home to call their own and much-needed stability.
Connie DeBoever, an analyst at The Boston Company, spearheaded the move, the second Up & Out she has organized for the firm. The Up & Out volunteers outfitted the apartment with essential household items, such as furniture and a stocked pantry.
“We’re happy that employees like Connie and others are supporting Heading Home and their important efforts to end homelessness in the city,” said Boston Company CEO Bart Grenier. “Our ‘powering potential’ focus includes a strong emphasis on employee volunteerism and working with organizations that provide food, clothing, energy and housing assistance to those who need immediate help.”
Heading Home, a BNY Mellon Community Partner for the past three years, has received more than $60,000 in funding through the generosity of the Eugene F. Fay Trust and the Peter E. Strauss Trust.
“We are one step closer to ending homelessness in Greater Boston thanks to these volunteers and the financial support of charitable giving programs at firms like BNY Mellon,” said Emily Smaldon, director of development at Heading Home. “The obvious joy and pride of the family as they moved into their new home is just the beginning of the positive results for them.”
A non-profit organization, Heading Home’s mission is to end homelessness in Greater Boston by providing a supported pathway to self-sufficiency that begins with a home, together with critical services such as life skills, financial literacy, and job training. The number of volunteers who gave their time to Heading Home has tripled over the last year, due in large part to the overwhelming success of the Up & Out program. Twenty-four Up & Out moves were completed last year and at least that many will be coordinated in 2012, which not only speaks to the extent of the homeless problem locally but to the depth of Heading Home’s committed base of volunteers.
As the recent wave of foreclosures and lack of affordable housing have displaced so many of our neighbors, homelessness has become an unnervingly pressing issue. The numbers are staggering: On any given night, there are more than 7,000 homeless people in Greater Boston, including 3,000 children. Sadly, not since the Great Depression have so many families been homeless. In response, last year Heading Home led the charge against homelessness in Greater Boston, directly helping more than 2,500 of our neighbors find a home and become self-sufficient.