Articles

Retail store helps agency for homeless over "long haul"

By Tracie Stone New Hampshire Business Review Magazine
Published: Friday, Mar. 17, 2006

A Granite State social service organization dedicated to helping individuals become self-sufficient has taken a page out of its own lesson book, embarking on an entrepreneurial venture in an attempt to become self-sustaining.

The Family Outfitters Thrift Store, launched in 2002 by Families in Transition - an organization dedicated to helping homeless families - is a retail operation located in the newly renovated Family Mills at 394 Second St. in Manchester.

The store offers shoppers a chance to purchase gently used furniture, housewares and clothing at affordable prices while serving as a training site for individuals working toward building a better life for themselves and their families.

Individuals like FIT graduate Katrina Bailey are employed there in well-paying jobs.

"I love it here. Every day is different," said Bailey who began as a driver with Family Outfitters nearly three years ago and now performs multiple duties."I love meeting new people and seeing new faces."

For Bailey and the other half-dozen employees, wages range from $8 an hour to above $10, placing them in line with other retail workers in the Granite State, according to the New Hampshire Retail Merchants Association. The benefits received by Family Outfitters employees rival many local businesses and include medical and dental coverage, a 3 percent match on their retirement savings, paid holidays, two weeks' vacation after their first year and a three-day weekend every other week.

"All the employees receive the same benefits we have with Families in Transition," said Michelle Petersen, director of development for FIT, which began in 1991 as a New Hampshire Community Loan Fund program dedicated to providing safe, affordable housing and comprehensive social services to homeless individuals and families.

Today FIT boasts 79 housing units in Manchester and 16 more in Concord (divided between transitional and permanent, affordable housing), a health-care clinic and a computer-training classroom as well as the thrift store.

On the path to profits

In addition to being a source of training, Family Outfitters - a business in every respect of the word - is working its way toward becoming a source of income for the agency that brought it to life, aiding FIT in its quest to become less dependent on the state and federal funding, grants and donations that have sustained it since its inception.

"The grants and the help Families in Transition has received have been great, but we needed to think about what we could do to make sure we're here for the long run," said Maureen Beauregard, president of Families in Transition. "We would like to see Family Outfitters become an economic engine for this agency. We'd like to see it enable us to do the kind of work that will impact homelessness in our state. That's what this store can do for us."

Originally launched with the assistance of a grant from the Great Bay Foundation, a supporter of social entrepreneurial ventures in Portland, Maine, Family Outfitters appears to be on its way to fulfilling its destiny.

Sales have risen steadily. During its first year, Family Outfitters sold $120,000 worth of merchandise. In 2005, sales climbed to $325,000. In 2006 the business is expected to reach a milestone by turning a profit for the first time.

"We really could have had a profit a year ago if we chose to by paying lower wages and cutting back on benefits," Beauregard said.

But the whole premise behind Family Outfitters is to provide employees with a source of income that will allow them to become self-sufficient while supporting FIT in its attempt to do the same. Both Beauregard and Petersen are confident that, over time, the store will do just that while continuing to serve as a training venue.

"Here people really learn how to run a business. They get to experience all aspects of the retail industry," Beauregard said. "It allows them to secure and maintain steady employment."

'Making lives'

While the relationship between Family Outfitters and FIT has been symbiotic from the start, its move in June to the Family Mill - FIT's latest project - is perhaps the greatest example of the success derived through this arrangement.

The retail operation, which originally called space at the corner of Granite and Commercial streets in Manchester "home," now occupies 4,000 square feet on the first floor of the historic mill, which was brought back to life through the combined efforts of FIT and its supporters. The remaining first floor area is filled with processing areas, offices, training rooms and meeting space used by the staff and clients of the organization.

On the floors above Family Outfitters are 33 apartments now enjoyed by families once homeless or at serious risk of becoming homeless.

Many Family Mill residents take part in the programs and training opportunities offered on the mill's first floor, including computer training. Such support has helped FIT graduates secure homes and find and maintain employment.

"We really save the city money by what we are doing here," Beauregard said. "These are people that may have ended up in our emergency rooms or our shelters, or even our jails. Instead, they are making lives for themselves."

While FIT itself has extended its housing program into the Capital City, further expansion will only be considered if adequate resources are in line, according to Beauregard. "We won't grow just for the sake of growing."

Questions regarding the possibility of FIT and Family Outfitters becoming a model for similar programs throughout New Hampshire and beyond are also met with some caution. While open to the idea, Beauregard is quick to note that needs and resources change with each community, and, while she considers guidance from people who have experienced success to be helpful and encouraging, she believes programs must be adjusted and adapted to the needs at hand.

Beauregard also said she believes people charged with overseeing such programs must be ready to commit for the long haul, just as she has done.

"You can go around and ask and ask and ask, but sometimes you just have to do it," Beauregard said. "You have to show some stick-to-itivism and create your own program - that's the one that is going to work for you."

14th Annual Pawtuckaway Ice Golf and Chili Competition

February 4, 2006 Fundraising: $4,093

The Annual Ice Golf Tournament and Chili Competition (external link)[website]

HUD (Housing and Urban Development) announces $5.2 Million in Grants to House and Serve Homeless Families and Individuals in NH -- January 11, 2006

HUD(external link)[website] to read the article.

Manchester church may soon house homeless mothers, children

Manchester Union Leader - December 22, 2005. <br/>

By GARY RAYNO Union Leader Staff Manchester

The parishioners of Our Lady of the Cedars Church could be replaced by homeless mothers and their children.

The state's only Melkite Catholic parish has a purchase-and-sale agreement with the Families in Transition organization, which hopes to turn the South Beech Street church building the parish is vacating into a recovery center for homeless women with substance abuse and their children.

Maureen Beauregard, president of the organization, yesterday said a thrift store may be on the first floor while a new building in the back of the one-acre lot will house 25 to 30 apartments.

She said the center would primarily serve women who have been the victim of violence who also have substance abuse issues. "Over 90 percent of the women who are homeless have been subject to violence," Beauregard said.

The treatment program will allow women and their children to stay together, she said. "A program like this is desperately needed in Manchester and this area," Beauregard said. "There's such a shortage of anything like this."

Some funding for the project has already been received through U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu's office and from the federal Housing and Urban Development agency, she said. "We're thankful for the support of Sen. Sununu and HUD and we hope the city will do the same," she said.

The organization is doing an environmental survey of the site and after that is complete will finalize site plans to take to the city for approval.

The group plans to tear down the rectory and put up a building to house the apartments for the families, she said.

The area is large enough for green space for the children to play and to handle the parking for the apartments and the recovery center, Beauregard said. The location is perfect, she said, noting it is near the bus route, within walking distance to jobs but far enough off South Willow Street.

Beauregard said Families in Transition intends to preserve the facade of the church as it has with other buildings it has purchased, like the Mailways building on the West Side.

"We respect the building and its history," she said, adding the group intends to retain the cross on the steeple.

If everything goes as planned, the center would open in late 2007 or early 2008.

"It feels like a good fit," she said, noting the group will soon begin meeting with neighbors. "It's important that people know who we are . . . We're going to be looking for community support for such things as painting and in-kind services," Beauregard said.

Our Lady of the Cedars is relocating to the former St. Theresa Church building at Calef Road and Mitchell Street. The parish begins holding services in its new home this weekend.

Standing by the homeless, we can help them

In the Manchester Union Leader on December 19th, 2005.
Keith Kuenning: Your Turn

At a recent Families In Transition (FIT) banquet, one of the residents of a transitional housing unit was asked to speak to the attendees. She was overcome with emotion as she began to share the events in her life that led her and her children to being homeless. It was clear to all present that sharing these memories was difficult, and it looked as though she would not be able to continue with her speech. Then an interesting thing happened.

One of the staff members from FIT came up to the podium, placed her right hand on the woman's shoulder and whispered something in her ear. The speaker took a deep breath and continued with her speech with the member of FIT standing behind her.

So often for the homeless, one small act of support can make all the difference in their lives. The staff member from FIT did not take the speech from the resident and read it, nor did she hold the individual up during the speech. All she did was be there for that person, stand by her during a difficult moment.

So often, this is all that is needed for most people who are homeless. Whether it is one of the 6,444 people who stayed in state-sponsored shelters in fiscal year 2005, or one of the 3,278 individuals identified as homeless during a one-day count held on Jan. 25-26, or one of the 958 school-aged children identified as homeless by the Department of Education on that same day in January, people who are experiencing homelessness just need someone to stand by them and help them through a very difficult period in their lives.

On Dec. 21, Homeless Memorial Day, the governor's Interagency Council on Homeless (ICH) will be delivering the ICH draft ten-year plan for ending homelessness in New Hampshire to Gov. John Lynch. With the governor^s leadership and the support of the many New Hampshire public and private institutions that already help the homeless, the elimination of homelessness within the next 10 years is an attainable goal.

No one wants to be homeless. Helping the homeless not only contributes to the stability of individuals and families, but also contributes to the stability and progress of your community. Call your representatives and ask them to make affordable housing a priority. Ask them to support the governor^s ten-year plan. Lobby for sensible zoning policies in your community. Working together, we can stand by the homeless today so homelessness will disappear tomorrow.

Keith Kuenning is the executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness.

Sununu Announces $450,000 for Manchester's Families in Transition Program

Non-profit agency provides affordable housing, services for homeless individuals with or without children. (external link)Article[website]

Sununu Presents Housing Tax Credits Award to Manchester's "Families in Transition"

Affordable housing agency honored for Concord's Bicentennial Square project. (external link)Article[website]

To see how the Manchester Monarchs Booster Club is involved with Families in Transition

Click Here