Harbor Homes of Martha’s Vineyard

Third Congregate House to Accommodate Homeless Individuals and Families
Harbor Homes of Martha’s Vineyard
Contact Person: Cindy Krauss, Director of Advancement
P.O Box 4795, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568

Community Housing
Harbor Homes of Martha's Vineyard is a 501(c)(3) organization established in 2018 with a mission to prevent homelessness by providing congregate housing, transitional housing support, a winter shelter, a hotel respite program, and case management. To achieve this vision, Harbor Homes successfully manages an array of housing solutions which are eligible for Community Preservation Act funding. These are congregate housing facilities providing transitional housing - one for men (Tashmoo House in Vineyard Haven), and a second facility for women (New York Ave House in Oak Bluffs), and hopefully a third that can house parents with children. Currently, each congregate living facility can house up to six participants. In a few short years, these facilities have become a critical part of the solution to the ongoing problem of homelessness on Martha's Vineyard. Individuals who participate in the program are at or below 30 percent of the Median Family Income (MFI) for Dukes County.

Funding Scope: Harbor Homes MV is seeking $15,000 in CPC funding from the Town of Chilmark to acquire a third congregate housing facility to accommodate individuals and families with children. Harbor Homes already has grant funding in the amount of $340,000 from five of the six island towns from last year’s round of CPC applications. That money along with this year’s funding will form the basis of a down
payment for an acquisition of property yet to be identified. 
Goals: We are seeking funding from all the island towns because we serve homeless persons from across the Island. The goal of our third congregate housing facility will be to add a critical missing service to offer housing to parents/families with children in need from all towns of the Vineyard, not just those from the town where the facility is located. Homelessness is an island wide problem and does not discriminate among socioeconomic backgrounds. Martha's Vineyard currently has a homeless population that is increasing due to the housing shortage. Many of our clients are working people on the Island, and in addition, a number of individuals and families with children who face other types of housing loss are on waiting lists for rental housing and face an unmet need for transitional or permanent housing. Our
overnight shelter use has increased over 40% in the past two years. Ending homelessness is a priority for all communities from a humanitarian perspective, and also a sound fiscal decision as evidenced by the
fact that studies show that providing supportive housing reduces overall public costs by nearly 50%. In addition to these facilities, offer a hotel respite temporary housing service for medically at-risk people during the off-season. We also operate an overnight winter shelter serving just under 40 individuals located on the campus of Martha’s Vineyard Community Services in Oak Bluffs. The building where we are housed is slated for demolition, making it necessary for us to relocate our shelter as soon as possible. 
Community Need and Support: Harbor Homes has been able to continue its critical services on the Island because we have been a recipient of CPA funding in the past. This year, we are seeking grant funding from the Town of Chilmark Community Preservation Committee in the amount of $15,000. These funds will be used to secure ownership of a third congregate housing location. While not our sole source of funding, CPA grants are essential to our overall ability to operate our congregate housing facilities around the island. This year, the funds would be particularly important to catalyze a new resource on the Island as we are actively pursuing the purchase of a building or land to create the third Island-wide congregate housing facility for individuals and families with children. Currently there is no facility available on Martha's Vineyard to accommodate families with children experiencing homelessness. Families can face loss of housing for a variety of reasons: loss of rental due to their home being sold, or lack of ability to pay the high cost of housing on Martha's Vineyard. Within the last year one family was burned out of their house and in need of a place to stay where they could all be together. As of September 2023, Harbor
Homes MV was assisting 15 families with a total of 22 children who were homeless or at high risk for homelessness. There are families with children in local schools who need housing, making it difficult for them to be placed off-island which would disrupt children’s schooling.
Timing: Harbor Homes is looking to enter into a purchase and sale agreement for either an existing property or the land upon which to build to locate a third congregate housing facility within the next 12 months. 
Other Information: The specifics of location and cost of the third congregate housing facility are yet to be determined.