Donor challenges community to come up with balance

HYANNIS, MA – A Hyannis business has donated $15,000 to Housing Assistance Corporation to begin opening the NOAH shelter during the day this winter, when there are no other options, or for those wishing to avail themselves of job and housing services. The new program will be called Work/Incentive 24.

The gift was made by anonymously in response to an effort by HAC to keep the NOAH Center, the Cape’s only emergency shelter for adult men and women, open during the day during the winter. NOAH is funded by the state’s Department of Transitional Assistance to be a night shelter only, open from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. throughout the year.

“Our organization is pleased to make this gift to Housing Assistance Corporation for the NOAH Center. We are supporting NOAH to help give homeless people a safe place to be this winter with the hope that they will take advantage of the new day housing and jobs program to get the services and housing that they need,” the donor said. “We challenge the rest of the community to come up with the balance that is needed not just to keep NOAH open days this winter, but year-round.”

Rick Presbrey, CEO of HAC, said the gift means that these day services, called Work/Incentive 24, can and will begin immediately.

“We turned to the community for help Friday afternoon and, incredibly, by Monday morning a donor handed me a check for $15,000,” Presbrey said. “We are surprised and so grateful for that quick response and promise that we will now do our part and get this new program up immediately.”

Beginning Jan. 15, NOAH will be open around the clock, with an expectation that the community will come forward with the balance of $14,500 necessary to keep the new schedule through at least the end of March.

“Our hope is that we will meet and surpass our initial goal so that we can make NOAH a 24-hour operation and provide clients with not just safety, but the services they need to make their stay in shelter as productive and as brief as possible,” said Rick Brigham, NOAH Development Director.

In addition to the expanded hours, HAC is launching a new daytime program, Work/Incentive 24, which will help clients move as quickly as possible into permanent, secure housing. This is part of HAC’s effort to transition NOAH into a 24-hour program that emphasizes housing placement over long-term emergency care.

Allison Rice, Vice President of Program Operations, said that the focus of Work/Incentive 24 is to provide clients with intensive case management and daily structure not just a place to drop in for mail or a phone call.  

"What Work/Incentive 24 will do is to allow those who are sleeping at NOAH to remain during the day to pursue permanent housing and job opportunities without having to leave home base, walk the streets, or go to hospitable site. NOAH staff will provide space, resources and case management services which allow people to more quickly achieve housing and employment independence. NOAH will not be duplicating any other organizations' efforts to provide a place to go during the day such as the Salvation Army and Baybridge.  

"NOAH will also stay open on any day when there is no alternative,  to provide a safe warm place for homeless individuals to go. This includes, but is not limited to, weekends and holidays," Rice said.

Facility Director Heidi Walter said many NOAH clients will welcome the change at NOAH. “We have many folks who are willing and able to be more engaged in efforts to find work or to find housing. These hours and this program will greatly enhance their likelihood of success.”

More than 500 individuals use NOAH every year; most nights the shelter is at its capacity of 60 guests. Additional homeless individuals use the facility to get a meal or coffee or to pick up their mail.

It costs HAC about $850,000 a year to operate NOAH as an overnight shelter. About $500,000 comes from the state; the remainder comes from small grants or donations from the community. During cost cutting last fall, HAC cut several administrative positions and closed to the shelter during the day to preserve some funds for the winter.

In previous years an effort was made to keep NOAH open on weekend days when the weather was particularly harsh. Weekend days are the most difficult because places of temporary refuge, like the Salvation Army, libraries and other public buildings, are usually closed. According to weather records, the average low temperature through January and February is around 29 degrees. Those low temperatures, combined with wind, rain or snow, make being outside all day unbearable and unsafe.

To support the campaign to expand NOAH’s hours and services send your gift to HAC at 460 West Main St., Hyannis, MA 02601 or visit www.haconcapecod.org/giving.

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