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Date: 9/6/2022
NORTHAMPTON – With homelessness continuing to be a point of concern across the state, a local nonprofit is using a renovated building at 5 Franklin St. to help create a supportive, yet independent housing facility in cutting edge fashion.
Independent Housing Solutions (IHS), started by Jessica Bossie of Hilltown Community Health Centers, aims to provide life-stabilizing, affordable, permanent housing with support services for medically complex individuals who have been chronically homeless in the past.
Bossie, who has spent years advocating and working with the homeless population across the three major Western Mass. counties as a primary-care physician, told Reminder Publishing that the renovated commercial building at 5 Franklin St. will house 16 beds for individuals who experience chronic houselessness for a variety of reasons.
IHS began in August 2021 through the vision of Bossie, who wanted to create special types of housing for people with specialized needs. The nonprofit also acts as a neutral entity that can partner with other direct care providers for people who are struggling with housing instability and homelessness.
For a lot of Bossie’s patients, many of whom are on low income, there are usually two options for housing: either completely independent living, or going to something called a rest home, which is a federal living situation. But, according to Bossie, a federal living situation can be burdensome for folks on the cusp of houselessness, especially since these places only provide a little over $72 a month for spending money.
“Folks get really frustrated by that situation because they only have $72 to spend a month,” said Bossie. “Whereas, if they chose to be homeless or choose to live in a voucher type of housing, they would only have to pay one-third of their income or nothing if they go to stay in a homeless shelter.”
Because of this cumbersome federal living situation, most people choose to be in a homeless shelter, according to Bossie. Eventually, people in a shelter will receive a housing voucher, which is usually a four-to-six-year process, and then move into independent housing, which Bossie said does not always accommodate the needs of these residents.
To combat these systemic issues, the building on 5 Franklin St. aims to offer supportive independent housing with an array of spaces including an oversized communal kitchen that accommodates a co-living occupancy, study areas, shared living rooms and alcoves. In addition to the housing, IHS will also provide meals, medical services, case management and mental health services to help residents prepare for independent living. IHS has also partnered with Manna Community Kitchen for meals and a visiting nurse will also come by twice a day to check up on residents.
“The common fridge will be stocked with milk, cheese, bread, fresh fruit and vegetables so people can make stuff that they want,” said Bossie. “And then Friends of the Hampshire County Homeless bought all of the furniture for the building.”
Friends of Hampshire County Homeless also provided $100,000 in funding for the Franklin Street building. IHS also received $128,500 from state Sen. Jo Comerford through a state earmark, as well as $608,000 from Community Preservation Act funding late last year to support the project. Durai Rajasekar, a member of IHS, bought the Franklin Street house and will officially sell it to IHS. According to Bossie, the building will be worth $1.2 million when all of the renovations are completed.
“It’s an actual asset because it doesn’t have the affordable housing restriction on it, so we can really do things,” said Bossie.
Bossie told Reminder Publishing in mid-August that 14 out of the 16 beds are already filled with referrals from the region’s shelter system. Specifically, people are selected from the by-names list from the Community Action Pioneer Valley based on whether the Franklin Street house meets their needs.
To live at the space, each resident must pay one-third of whatever their income is, but Bossie said if they do not have an income, they can still live in the space by paying $0. People who do not have a steady stream of income will have opportunities to make money, said Bossie.
“We’re going to have banking support and of course people can work, even people who have disabilities,” said Bossie.
Additionally, there is a program where certain folks can make $44 a day for helping other Franklin residents who cannot take care of themselves. “We also have some women who are interested in working and then moving on to their own apartment,” Bossie added. “We also have people who don’t have a place for themselves, so they’ll stay here for life. Everyone is on their own trajectory.”
Although IHS provides all the support they can, Bossie said this will not be a restrictive living situation. “People can come and go when they want; this is their own living space,” said Bossie, adding that IHS plans to accommodate any other reasonable requests from residents, including specific foods, drinks, etc. Staff from IHS and beyond will also be present throughout each day to provide mediation, cleaning, support, and whatever else people need. They will also have Smith volunteers come and help, too.
According to Bossie, jumpstarting this nonprofit and developing this type of housing in a year is typically unheard of, as a process for supportive housing usually takes four to five years due to a lengthy application procedure for “one-stop projects.” Under this process, Bossie said an organization like Valley CDC or Wayfinders will build a giant building with a hundred or so units, some of which are low-income. For supportive housing, however, these units are usually inefficient.
“The problem is not all the people fit well into those little tiny boxes,” said Bossie, referring to the units. “They can get sort of lost in the building with hundred of people, and so it’s a really broken system.”
What makes 5 Franklin different is the space provides the amenities and support the houseless population needs, but they are still welcome to live their lifestyle independently. Additionally, the 16 beds make for a more intimate community, thus making it less overwhelming for folks trying to make the difficult transition from off the streets.
Bossie describes the supportive housing at 5 Franklin as a unique situation that must be emulated far beyond Northampton. To continue this work, IHS is also in the process of creating a medical respite for homeless individuals who need crucial medical care, like hip replacements or live transplants. They also hope to open another supported independent living facility for people with severe mental illness.
“We really understand the needs, and we’re building housing in a thoughtful way,” said Bossie. “Housing developers have no idea what the needs are. They have no idea what the clients need that they’re making housing for. They just assume everyone is going to be independent, but that’s not how life works.”
“Housing first is not the first house that comes along,” Bossie continued. “Housing first is putting people in a place that they’ll be successful. We basically are providing the services that an assisted living facility would provide without the price tag. We’re hoping that this model gets utilized more.”
Visit the IHS website to learn more about the Franklin project and other information about the nonprofit: https://independenthousingsolutions.org/.