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Date: 11/21/2022
EASTHAMPTON – To help provide shelter to Easthampton’s vulnerable populations the city is partnering with Craig’s Doors, an Amherst-based nonprofit, after receiving emergency funding from the Department of Housing and Community Development.
Easthampton’s Community Social Worker Liz Plouffe said the idea for the partnership came about after realizing the city did not have an emergency shelter plan for the winter. Realizing residents would be looking to other communities for emergency shelter, Plouffe connected with Western Massachusetts Network to end Homelessness Director Pamela Schwartz and Craig’s Doors Executive Director Tim McCarthy.
“They suggested maybe reaching out to the Department of Housing and Community Development and see if they had any available funding. Obviously, everything was closed for the upcoming year and see what’s available for emergency assistance. They were able to allocate some last-minute funds and said we could partner with Craig’s Doors.” said Plouffe.
Plouffe added that McCarthy and his team accepted the partnership with “open arms.” With the partnership, the funding is absorbed into Craig’s Doors existing budget, and those in need will be directed to network hotels or other locations for emergency shelter.
McCarthy told Reminder Publishing that through their network, Craig’s Doors can provide emergency shelter to about 63 people.
“The foundation of everything we do is harm reduction. So, we’re trying to keep folks alive during the coldest and most dangerous weather months,” he said.
One of the ways Craig’s Doors tries to help get people out of chronic homelessness is through its case management work.
“We’re open all the time, and guests are able to utilize our case management services which really focuses on helping them to become independent, providing them with assistance in the acquisition of vital documentation like birth certificates and identification,” McCarthy said.
He added that they also help people connect with mental and physical health professionals when in need.
McCarthy said both communities have been forward thinking when it comes to trying to combat homelessness.
“I know the town of Easthampton is showing itself to be interested in supporting the regional effort to end homelessness. We’ve been really lucky, the town of Amherst has been incredibly supportive,” he said.
Along with Amherst and Easthampton, McCarthy said Manna Soup Kitchen in Northampton has “proven to be a remarkable advocate for the population that we serve.”
McCarthy also reflected on the work Craig’s Doors does.
“We really just want to kind of create almost a counter cultural environment like there are folks who are exceptionally vulnerable and who have been let down by our system time and time again, and we’re trying to offer them a more dignified experience,” he said. “To look at this as charity. We’re not getting anything down from our time and we’re walking shoulder to shoulder with our guests. Treating them and seeing them as equals and trying to help improve their circumstances and quality of life.”
Currently, McCarthy said Craig’s Doors is undergoing a bit of “rebranding,” with its dinners that are served at 7 p.m.
“We make meals with fresh ingredients many of which are made available to us by other local nonprofits, including the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. And we’re beginning to expand our culinary relationships with UMass Amherst College,” he said.
While helping people get back on their feet, McCarthy said Craig’s Doors offers them a “day-to-day structure” that “holds them accountable,” using a “trauma-informed lens.”
“The trauma informed lens is one that we exercise in, certainly avoiding judgment of anyone’s circumstance recognizing the complexities of one’s life everything from biology, early childhood to traumatic experiences in childhood and in adulthood that can generate maladaptive coping mechanisms,” he said.
On the city’s end, Plouffe said the funding goes toward transportation, hotel or shelter placement if someone needs a place to stay.
While Plouffe said she couldn’t put a number on how many people experience homelessness in the city, she said people have varying needs.
“It’s hard to say, I have identified that we do have individuals in need between being unstable, house and really just kind of look for help day to day and consistently, long term homelessness,” she said.
The program is up and running and Plouffe said help is available for anyone in need from now through at least the beginning of 2023.
“We’ve been talking with Tim quite a bit in recent weeks because typically by Nov. 1 a lot of those seasonal shelters have their plans for the winter up and running. Tim’s team just officially moved into the church site they use for the winter season, so we were talking all this week about what’s going on on their end and getting to know their hotel and existing relationships,” she said.
One of those shelters includes the Knights Inn, which is located at 208 Russell Rd., in Hadley.
Plouffe added that she is excited to be able to provide housing to people in need.
“We’re really hoping that working with Amherst that we can get some additional plans and resources in place over the next couple years so that we really do have availability of a lot of support for people, especially in the winter season.” Plouffe said. “It’s just that much harder for people in the wintertime financially, and there’s a lot of needs that increase when the weather gets cold. We don’t want housing instability to be something that we are worried about.”
Anyone in Easthampton in need of emergency shelter can reach out to Plouffe and Public Health Nurse Bridget Diggins at 529-1400, ext. 153. Anyone in the Amherst area seeking emergency shelter can reach out to 256-0704, ext. 4.
Craig’s Doors operates out of the Immanuel Lutheran Church, which is located at 867 N. Pleasant St. in Amherst.
Correspondent Lynn Daris contributed to this report.