Have faith: Harbor Homes MV

I met last week with Father Chip Seadale from St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and with Karen Tewhey, Associate Commissioner for Homeless Prevention for Dukes County, and we talked about homelessness on Martha’s Vineyard. I know that doesn’t sound possible even as I type it — homeless people living on Martha’s Vineyard, the same place a former president may be buying property. Poverty is everywhere though, and even a beautiful Island with multimillion-dollar homes can’t escape it.

The lack of affordable housing is something we write about a lot in The Times, and it’s a story that needs covering as the community struggles with how to address it. I wanted to know about those people who fall into the deeper cracks, those who are vulnerable to the point that even the Island Housing Trust and the Dukes County Housing Authority are unable to assist them. There are Islanders with roots here who don’t make the $20,650 a year necessary to be eligible for their help. And with just one room in a house renting for $1,000 a month these days, those folks don’t stand a chance.

Houses of Grace, the winter shelter program Island clergy developed, goes into its fifth year this winter. Each year, as the program gets more established, more homeless utilize the shelters. The board of directors of Harbor Homes MV, made up of clergy and other concerned community leaders, are now working on acquiring a residence where those Islanders who do not qualify for affordable housing programs because their income is so low, or even non-existent, can live in a congregate living situation while they’re provided the support they need to get back on their feet. The initiative is called Harbor Homes MV, and it’s modeled after a program on the Cape — Homeless Not Hopeless Inc. (They have a pretty good website, homelessnothopeless.org, if you want to learn more.) I asked them to describe what they need to get a residence on the Island, and why it’s needed. 

Father Chip explained that he, Karen, and long-time Island homeless advocate and treasurer of Harbor Homes MV, Marjorie Mason, visited Homeless Not Hopeless residences on the Cape and thought right away that the same program could work here. 

“It’s congregate living, with one or two people per bedroom, there’s a living area and kitchen; it’s like any residence except the people are not related,” Father Chip said. “They contribute $400 or $500 a month in terms of what they can towards food and shelter. And there’s an educational program to help them get out from under homelessness and move on — how to balance a checkbook, how to get rides to their appointments.” 

There’s a stringent screening process in place, and those who live there must be sober. It’s not transitional housing, where someone with an addiction is given six months housing, Father Chip said. If someone who is not abusing substances has a place to live while they find decent work, they’re going to find a way to leave a congregate living situation, he said. “Some stay for more than a year, some stay for a few weeks,” Father Chip said of the residences on the Cape.  

Karen said that she averages two referrals a week in her position for the county. “These are people who are homeless or living in substandard situations,” she said. “Their profiles cut across age — they’re from 20 to 80 years old, some have disabilities, some do not; some are employed, some are not.” With Harbor Homes, she said, the people targeted for help will be those with strong connections to the Island. They’ll have things in common like income eligibility and living in poverty at that moment. There will be a life skills program, so they would have to make a commitment to set goals to become more self-sufficient. 

It sounded as if Father Chip and Karen are well-versed in how the program would work, and all they need to get started is a home. I asked what Harbor Homes MV required, and they said $600,000 or the gift of a home. It may sound daunting, but one of the homes in the Homeless Not Hopeless program was donated by a local yacht club. It can happen. Most of the towns on the Island have already designated funding to support the initiative; Edgartown has not opted to support the program at this time, and Tisbury has shown interest in learning more about it. Karen had many real-life stories that point to why Harbor Homes MV is needed. 

“There’s the trauma of homelessness,” she began. “They’re ashamed to admit this is their status. They don’t have an address, they don’t participate in community activities, and our goal is to bring them back into the community as healthy, functioning members.” 

She said the homeless on the Island have no truly safe place to sleep at night, so they live with fear and anxiety. They have no refrigerator for medications or food, no stove or microwave, no access to laundry or bathing. Who are these people, I wondered.

Last year, Karen said, she worked with seven women ages 45 to 65, whose housing was dependent on relationships with a partner or an employer, and when those relationships ended they were out on the street. Sometimes, she explained, she gets calls from the hospital asking for help with housing because patients may be leaving there with no place to go home to, or their housing is so substandard that it’s not safe for them. “We have people every year put up in the local motel, people who are medically fragile or emotionally vulnerable, and we have families too. Harbor Homes’ ultimate goal is to ensure every resident of the Vineyard, regardless of income, has a roof over their head.” 

Then that often-heard comment began ringing in my ears while I was speaking to them: “If you can’t afford to live here, then leave.” I asked them about their perspective regarding that opinion. 

“Where should they go? Falmouth has its own homeless issue. You tell me where you want to draw that line, you tell me,” Father Chip said. “And then when they leave, what would the Island look like? Do we all have to be multi-millionaires to live here?” 

Karen said she does encourage those who don’t have roots here on the Island to try other programs off-Island. “A handful of our residents have qualified for programs on the Cape and they’ve left, but the majority of them are from here and they want to stay here. Some come from families that have been here for a long time.” Sometimes they’ve fallen out with their family members and they have nowhere to go, Father Chip said. 

Karen said she hears from 100 individuals a year who self refer as being homeless or imminently at risk for being homeless. “That’s been steady for the last three years. What do they do? They are crowded into single-family dwellings, overcrowded so that every space in the house becomes a bedroom, an illegal bedroom. They’re living in sheds, garages, and basements without safe egress, with mold and mildew and no electricity, no access to showers or kitchen facilities. Families are at times having their children stay with friends and the parents sleep in vehicles. There’s a lot of people sleeping in vehicles. I know one woman who cleans houses who’s lived in a Windstar van for years.”

One of the unique things about the Vineyard, she said, is that property is so highly valued that anyone who tries to sleep anywhere is going to be charged rent, whether it’s a tent in someone’s yard, crashing in a basement — wherever they stop, they’ll be charged. 

It will be winter before you know it, and time again for the dozens of Island volunteers who keep the overnight Houses of Grace going to pitch in. Good Shepherd Parish will open its warming center in Oak Bluffs six days a week, November through March. They serve warm meals, provide a place to do laundry and shower. There’s access to a recovery coach, resources, and referrals at the warming center. 

There are plenty of volunteers on the Island who are committed to helping the homeless. Harbor Homes MV wants to take it a step further, a step that can help eliminate the situation. Poverty is everywhere, and it’s here too. It’s just not as visible as it is in other communities. 

Even if Harbor Homes MV begins with providing shelter and life skills for only four or five people, Father Chip said, “What would room for four or five people do? Well, it would transform four or five lives.” 

If you want to find out more about Harbor Homes MV, and if you want to help, visit harborhomesmv.com. 

The Federated Church, 45 South Summer St., Edgartown, starts its off-season hours beginning Sept. 2 with church services at 10:30 am led by Rev. Dr. Charlotte Wright, with Peter Boak directing the choir. You can find all of their events and worship services on the church’s website, federatedchurchmv.org.