When Sharon Brown speaks, you don’t just hear her story. You feel her legacy rise with every word. Her voice carries command and compassion, the kind forged over decades walking through shelters, sitting beside people in pain, and showing up for those the world forgets.
With more than 25 years of experience in shelters, prisons, treatment centers, and universities, Brown has made it her mission to serve. Today, as director of homeless services at Harbor Homes of Martha’s Vineyard, she wears many hats.
Originally from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Brown began her career as a teenage security guard at a men’s shelter. “I grew up in a really bad part of New York,” she tells me. “I feel like I was blessed to make it out of the things I did. So I’ve spent my life giving back and helping people get a second chance.”
From there, she worked her way up through every position in a 200-bed facility, learning, leading, and loving people through their lowest moments. That same tenacity powers her leadership today. She transitioned from a part-time women’s-health case manager to Harbor Homes’ full-time director in 2023, following an organizational need and a personal calling that could not be ignored.
At Harbor Homes, Brown oversees case management for both men’s and women’s shelters, answers 24-hour crisis calls, coordinates emergency housing, and facilitates street outreach. Her phone starts ringing around 6 am and doesn’t stop until well past midnight. Sometimes it’s someone facing eviction. Sometimes it’s a woman escaping abuse. Sometimes it’s a person who’s lived on the Island for 30 years and suddenly finds themself with nowhere to go.
“I don’t want to send people off the Island,” Brown says firmly. “That’s the last thing we want to do.”
But with limited affordable housing and mental health resources, relocation is often the only stable option. “Most of the people who’ve successfully transitioned out of homelessness have done it off-Island,” she explains. “We do everything we can to find temporary shelter — hotel rooms, if we can — and then get them into programs where they can access support, save money, and eventually come back stronger.”
Even after people leave, Brown stays involved, coordinating with programs like Vinfen, the state Department of Mental Health, Duffy, and McLean to ensure long-term support. “Some come back when they’re stable,” she says. “And when they do, they’re in a better position to stay that way [on-Island.]”
Brown has also built a growing outreach team by partnering with other service organizations across the Island. What began as a one-woman mission is becoming a sustainable model thanks to new funding for a part-time outreach worker. Still, the load is heavy.
On Mondays Brown works directly with women at Harbor Homes’ transitional house, guiding job searches, leading meditation, and helping them find stability. The rest of the week is a mix of supporting the men’s transitional home, doing home visits and crisis response, and navigating cases that are often heartbreaking.
“Sometimes someone’s lived in the same house for decades,” she says. “And then the spouse passes, or the landlord sells, or they fall behind, and suddenly they’re facing homelessness.”
Whether the problem is based in grief, addiction, gentrification, or job loss, Brown meets each person where they are — with no judgment, only care. “This is what case management is,” she says. “Complete support. Whatever that person needs, we figure it out.”
And when she says “we,” you can hear the hope in it that one day the “we” will be bigger, stronger, and more resourced.
Until then, Sharon Brown remains the heartbeat of Harbor Homes, answering the calls no one else can, holding the weight of stories most people never hear, and reminding this Island that home isn’t just a place. It’s a promise worth fighting for.
Beyond shelter: healing as legacy
Brown’s care extends far beyond the urgent work of shelter and outreach. Her true mission is healing, rooted not only in survival but in joy, restoration, and ritual.
Years ago she promised her grandmother, who was battling cancer, that she would bring her to Martha’s Vineyard for rest and recovery — a peaceful place to heal. “But she never made it,” Brown says softly. “She passed before she could come.”
Out of that grief Brown built a legacy.
“In the past four years I’ve brought more than 70 cancer patients to the Island,” she said.
Through her nonprofit, Revamp Mind, Soul, & Body, Brown organizes seasonal retreats for low-income cancer survivors during the Island’s off-season. These multiday healing experiences include meditation, yoga, journaling, and community art. One of the most beloved rituals involves writing down burdens on rocks and releasing them into the ocean.
“It’s symbolic, but it’s also real,” she says. “It’s letting go. It’s reclaiming your body, your spirit.”
She also created M.V. Sister Circle, a monthly wellness group for professional women on the Island — nurses, social workers, caregivers, educators — who often pour from empty cups. “It’s a space for them to refill,” she says. “To talk, to laugh, to cry, to play.”
Activities at Sister Circle gatherings range from breathwork to lip-synch competitions where women perform songs that capture how they’re feeling. There are prizes, themes, and a palpable sense of release. “These women take care of everyone else every single day,” Brown says. “This is my way of giving back to them.”
Whether guiding a cancer survivor to the sea or passing a microphone to a woman with a song in her spirit, Brown’s message is always clear: “You matter. Your body, your voice, your peace — every part of you matters.”
And she lives that truth, too. Despite her relentless schedule Brown makes time for herself, not as a luxury but as survival.
“I started meditating and doing yoga about 13 years ago,” she notes. “It helped me through some really rough times, which is why I share it everywhere I go.”
In her spare time, Brown makes candles, incense, and bath salts, all with intention. Every item she uses herself. Every dollar supports her retreat work.
Bracing for the summer crisis
While most people look forward to summer on Martha’s Vineyard, Brown braces for it. Because summer doesn’t just bring tourists, it brings crisis.
“This summer I already have six or seven new people living in the woods,” she says. “They came for work, but they can’t afford to live here … or even find a place to rent [in general].”
Hotel vouchers are available only for certain populations: youth, elders, families, or those with disabilities. That leaves many seasonal workers — especially international hires — with nowhere to go.
Brown also receives an uptick in calls from women who arrived on-Island for opportunity, but ended up in abusive situations. “Especially in summer,” she says. “Women show up with nothing and no one’s talking about it.”
She works closely with Connect to End Violence, Island Housing Trust, and other partners, but the support system is stretched thin. What’s needed now, Brown says, is a safe haven: Permanent housing for people earning below 50 percent of the area median income (AMI), elders displaced by rising costs, and essential workers with no place to stay.
“That’s our dream,” she says. “That’s Harbor Homes’ strategic plan. To be the home for people who have no home.”
They’re writing grants. Raising money. Asking for land. But even a small lot on the Island can cost more than a million dollars.
Still, Brown keeps going.
“Because we have to. Because these are our neighbors,” she said.
She’s also advocating for homeowners to offer guesthouses and vacant units, even short-term. “I have clients who work for the police station, the Post Office, the hospital,” she says. “These aren’t people who are lazy. They’re the ones keeping the Island going.”
And they’re being pushed out, quietly, seasonally, systemically.
It’s known as “the Vineyard shuffle” — when families are forced to move multiple times each year, making housing a moving target. Some live in vans. Others live week to week. And the children? They call Brown themselves.
“By the end of the school year I had students calling me,” she says. “Kids. Because their parents were losing housing and they didn’t want to leave the Island before graduation.”
It’s not just a housing crisis. “It’s a humanity crisis,” she says. “It’s not about charity, it’s about justice. About being able to live and work in the place you call home.”
There’s a quote from Patrice D’Onofrio, a longtime community member and Harbor Homes resident, that captures Brown’s essence best: “When you’ve lived somewhere for more than 22 years you experience a lot of different environments, but living at Harbor Homes with Sharon at the helm has been the absolute best. She’s the kindest soul I’ve ever met. I’ve never seen her out of character — never stressed, never frustrated. She always carries herself with such calm and grace, and that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve seen.”
Sharon Brown doesn’t just provide services, she creates sanctuary. She doesn’t just respond to crisis — she reshapes what care looks like.
About Harbor Homes
Harbor Homes of Martha’s Vineyard is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting Island residents facing housing insecurity. With a focus on transitional housing, emergency shelter, and case-management services, the organization provides pathways to stability for individuals and families navigating homelessness.
Founded with the belief that housing is a human right, Harbor Homes operates both men’s and women’s shelters year-round while also coordinating outreach programs, crisis response, and strategic partnerships with agencies across Massachusetts. In addition to short-term shelter, the organization works to connect clients with mental health services, addiction recovery programs, job opportunities, and long-term housing solutions.
Harbor Homes is more than a shelter — it’s a support system rooted in dignity, compassion, and community. Through the leadership of people like Brown, the organization continues to advocate for lasting change — one person, one home, and one act of care at a time.
How to help
- Donate to Harbor Homes’ Safe Haven Fund at harborhomesmv.com/donate.
- Volunteer for outreach, transportation, or women’s wellness events.
- Hire responsibly –– offer seasonal jobs with secure housing options.
- Share resources with those in need, especially during the summer surge.