Father Bill's & MainSpring

For four decades, Father Bill’s & MainSpring (FBMS), a registered 501(c)3 charitable organization, has been a leading innovator of ending homelessness. Our mission is to end and prevent homelessness in Southern Massachusetts with programs that provide emergency and permanent housing and help people obtain skills, jobs, housing, and services. We help people who are struggling with homelessness, or are at risk of homelessness, achieve self-sufficiency. As an agency, we are always researching best practices, evaluating our own performance, and striving to reduce the need for costly emergency shelter. Recently, we implemented a new service delivery model that realigned our staff into regional departments and around a coordinated entry system, ensuring that everyone who comes to our doors can more rapidly address their housing crisis.

Our comprehensive services include: Emergency Shelter/Triage: FBMS operates four emergency shelters for single adults - including MainSpring House in Brockton and Father Bill's Place in Quincy. FBMS also operates two family shelters and shelter apartments throughout the region, which served 206 families made up of 587 individuals (342 children, 245 adults) in FY21. Housing: We are one of a few sheltering organizations that is also a major developer and provider of permanent supportive housing. Our Housing First approach provides participants a home of their own and on-site case management services to help them maintain housing. In FY21, 99% of residents remained housed one year or more, and 93% three years or more. FBMS owns or operates 600+ housing units across the region including the latest FBMS PSH property – the Roadway Apartments inside a former Brockton hotel that was transformed into 69 units of PSH. Hunger Relief: In FY21, we served 220,000+ meals to shelter guests and community members struggling with food insecurity. We are continuing to serve three nutritious meals a day at our shelter sites. Healthcare Access: Our shelters in Brockton and Quincy include on-site health clinics, operated in partnership with local healthcare partners, where participants receive free primary and preventative care. The Agency has longstanding partnerships with healthcare providers across the region and can rapidly connect participants to specialized care. Workforce Development: Our Workforce Development programs provide flexible, individualized services as participants work towards economic self-sufficiency. We have placed 1000+ people in jobs since 2013. Prevention: FBMS assists people to remain in their homes and avoid eviction via our Tenancy Preservation Program (TPP) and the Renew Collaborative. In FY21, 96% of households assisted by TPP avoided homelessness and 215 families avoided shelter due to efforts of our Prevention/Diversion programs.