Shelter Music Boston’s Children and Family Shelter Program

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Shelter Music Boston (SMB) has launched a pilot project that will expand services to Greater Boston children and/or families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.  Developed in collaboration with the Boston Philharmonic (BPO), SMB will pair its expertise in concert delivery to those who are homeless with the BPO’s established music education programs for school children. The collaboration results in an innovative program tailored to children and families utilizing homeless shelters and other services. The primary goal of this program is to use classical music to provide a safe and nurturing environment for children and families whose lives are filled with the uncertainty that is symptomatic with homelessness. This program will foster intellectual stimulation and emotional connection using educational tools to encourage creativity and inspire hope for children and families in desperate circumstances.

​Family Homelessness

The crisis of family homelessness in the United States continues to fall heaviest on the nation’s most vulnerable: its children. The number of children without a permanent home continues to grow, with close to 1.3 million students in public schools counted as homeless during the 2014–15 school year. A quality education can be the most important tool to helping children and families lift themselves out of a recurring pattern of housing instability.1

Homeless mothers are more likely than housed mothers to experience domestic violence, mental illness, and substance abuse. A lack of access to medical care results in poorer health outcomes and higher rates of HIV/AIDS among homeless parents.
For these and many other reasons, homeless children are more likely than their housed peers to suffer from:

• developmental delays;
• chronic and acute health problems;
• and behavioral, emotional, and mental health issues.

Additional stressors can include abuse or exposure to family and community violence. The myriad negative effects that homelessness can have on families cannot be understated.2

Some facts about family homelessness: 3

• 1 in 30 children in the United States experience homelessness annually.

• 51% of homeless children are under age 5 and, therefore, too young for school and are not counted.
• 1 in 6  U.S. children under age 18, or 13 million, live in poverty.
• For every ten extremely low income households, there are only three affordable rentals available on the market.
• Since fiscal year 2008, Massachusetts has experienced one of the largest increases in family homelessness in the nation, and is one of only two states (with New York) where families comprise more than half of the shelter population.
• While new entrants to and returns to shelter have declined in the last couple of years, the length of stay in shelters has increased.

• About half of the families in shelter also receive other types of homeless assistance.

“Children are among the most vulnerable members of our society,” said Boston Foundation President and CEO Paul Grogan. “How we serve them and their parents is a reflection not only of our systems and institutions, but our character as a community.”
According to Westat Vice President Debra Rog, “Families and children make up the largest cohort of people who are homeless or on the brink of homelessness in Massachusetts.”4

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Our 2018 Children's Program Shelter Partner

Housing Families

Housing Families serves more than 890 homeless families, including more than 1,000 children each year. The organization believes in a holistic approach to ending family homelessness by addressing the concrete housing needs as well as complex circumstances that lead to housing loss and the continuing negative effects that result from homelessness.  Housing Families’ case managers and program staff provide one-on-one care and advocacy for all family members. This care begins with each family’s arrival at the Housing Families Emergency Shelter and continues throughout the journey toward stable, permanent housing.

Our Children's Program will be partnering specifically with Housing Families' GREAT Youth Program.

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1. Out of the Shadows: A State-by-State Ranking of Accountability for Homeless Students, Institute for Children, Poverty & Homelessness, www.ICPHusa.org. Accessed 12 Jan 2018.
2. Effects of Homelessness on Families and Children, Issue 3, Institute for Children, Poverty & Homelessness,  www.ICPHusa.org.Accessed 12 Jan 2018.
​3. Homelessness/Poverty Fact Sheet. Family Promise,  https://familypromise.org/homelessness-fact-sheet/. Accessed 11 Jan 2018.
4. The Boston Foundation report on challenges of family homelessness, Report prepared by Westat with data from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, (February 2017) https://www.tbf.org/news-and-insights/press-releases/2017/february/homelessness-report-release-february-2017. Accessed 11 Jan 2018.