Dear Friends of TIS,
It is with great gratitude that I write this note at the end of our Fiscal Year. We have, with the help of our supporters, assisted 82 persons of all ages and demographics with shelter, counseling, case management, education, food and love. TIS works with our guests to provide the basic human needs, and then some. Guests must commit and “buy into” our S4 Program for success to take place, and we work with people who have experienced great trauma, so the process can be long and painstaking for both our guests and their case managers. We know that “it works if you work it”, but it takes time to build trust with each individual…to learn their history and what is holding them back from the ability to earn enough income to support themselves and their children, if they have them.
It is a documented fact that the ‘trauma brain’ can only see 12-24 hours into the future; it has been so stressed with just scrabbling to find food and shelter, and possibly dealing with untold traumas from childhood, that certain patterns that are not healthy become deeply imbedded. It is challenging for our guests to believe in themselves as much as we believe in them, and to trust us when we say that they can be successful.
This takes time and a dedicated staff, caring volunteers and committed donors to help our guests to accomplish the success of finding their own housing. Recently our board of directors decided to not limit our transitional housing program to 2 years, but to help subsidize those who need it for a longer period of time, because market rate housing is so expensive and out of reach for them. This will cost TIS more in all resources, and we hope that our supporters will help us to go that extra mile.
There have been challenges and successes this past year: From hiring a new Director of Operations to follow in Fran Doran’s footsteps (who was our very first D of O who had dedicated her life to TIS for 13 years!)… to the purchase of the 133 Vine Street property so we could open up more rooms for single guests in Evelyn’s Place by moving two offices into the Vine Street building… to the pipes bursting during that frigid weather in January, when the town inspectors and our contractors dropped everything else they had on their schedule that day so our guests could move back into the house that evening…to the roaring success of Lip Sync Battle…it has been a whirlwind!
As I say to anyone who asks, I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to do this work as a vocation. I see so many relationships built, so many compassionate people coming to us with their time, treasures and ideas, and I see our guests grow and change as they embrace the Program and see that they can be strong and independent, and to be able to find some peace in their lives.
We have YOU to thank for all these wonderful accomplishments! We hope you will stay with TIS in whatever capacity you are, or to increase what you are doing to help our guests to find their own successes, and to spread the word about the good work that happens here.
Bless you for caring for the most vulnerable in our midst, and for your support of TIS in our efforts to make a positive change in our community, one person at a time.
Thank you,
Julie Lowe