Services That Work

Proven success in ending homelessness for local families

Our families stay housed!

Family Promise does a whole lot more than provide shelter and meals for families experiencing. Our shelter guests receive intensive, individualized case management during their stay in our program, as well as comprehensive aftercare once they have successfully transitioned into their new home. Our model has proven to be a great marker for success as we successfully integrate our families into their communities and ensure the support continues long after they graduate our shelter.

Check out the services offered through our two main programs:

Emergency Shelter Program

  • Comprehensive assessments outlining each family’s risk factors and steps that can be taken to alleviate some of the barriers they face
  • Education & job training
  • Access to professional advocates who help families find jobs, affordable housing and referrals to other agencies as needed
  • Financial literacy programs
  • Job/Education skills assessments
  • Referrals for family therapy, crisis intervention, theraputic mentoring or early intervention
  • Advocates on behalf of legislative bills that affect our families’ employment, service delivery options and affordable housing
  • Wellness workshops, including:
    • Nutrition & Exercise
    • Tenant rights & responsibilities
    • Employer/Employee rights & responsibilities

Shelter and Housing Navigation Program

In February of 2020, Family Promise North Shore Boston launched the Shelter and Housing Navigation Program. This program is intended to offer accessible resource navigation to families and individuals in need of assistance. The SHN Program includes three of our most utilized services: Homelessness Prevention, Shelter Diversion, and Housing Stabilization. Those in need are encouraged to reach out to our staff who are ready and prepared to assist families with accessing shelter, preventing eviction, and applying for housing and other benefits. If you are at risk of homelessness and need someone to help you find stability, please contact our office.

Homelessness Prevention

In Massachusetts, hundreds of thousands of households are experiencing rent burden at some level. This means that many families are at risk of being evicted from their home for non-payment of rent. Our Homelessness Prevention program offers financial assistance and intensive case management to families who may be at risk of losing their housing. We work with families to help them access funding and resources that will allow them to stay in their homes. In many cases, we serve as mediators for the family and landlord to help enhance a relationship of trust and patience. Landlord mediation has proven to be incredibly successful at keeping families in their homes while we work with them to secure enough funding to pay off their rental debt.

Shelter Diversion

One of our newest and most utilized services, Shelter Diversion is best described as any and all strategies and resources that help a family avoid entering into the emergency shelter system. Many families who call our office no longer have a safe and permanent place to stay. Often a family may be temporarily living with a friend or paying for a hotel. Their situation may not involve a lease, which makes preventing homelessness very difficult. Shelter diversion can look like offering a family financial assistance to pay for transportation to a place where they may have family who are able to house them. It could also mean offering financial assistance to the friend who has offered the family their home, while we work with the family to find them more permanent, stable housing. 

Housing Stabilization

An important part of the Family Promise North Shore Boston program is the aftercare services provided to each family post-graduation through the Families Forward Program, or “housing stabilization. While this is less intensive than the care families receive while in our emergency shelter, staff meets monthly with graduate families to ensure they maintain their monthly budgets, income, expenses and continued debt reduction. An ancillary benefit to the aftercare program is that we are able to assist families with any problem-solving issues, as well as help them resolve any needs that may arise, such as after school/summer camp needs or referrals to additional services. The Families Forward Program helps ensure that our guests’ instances of homelessness are non-recurring.