Celebrating the $100,000 Cummings Foundation grant are, from left, Emmaus Director of Philanthropy Gretchen B. Arntz, Health and Wellness Educator AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer Annapurna Ravel, Coordinated Entry Program Manager Tammy Guerrero, Executive Director Jeanine Murphy, Controller Diane Moran, Associate Director Leslie Lawrence and Chief Financial Officer Steve Donahue. (Courtesy photograph.)
Emmaus, the largest provider of emergency shelter in Essex County, will hire a street outreach worker to encourage homeless people to take advantage of shelters thanks to receipt of a $100,000 grant from the Cummings Foundation.
The street outreach worker will engage, assist and connect unsheltered adults to housing and community services in the Lower Merrimack Valley, focusing initially on Haverhill, Amesbury and Newburyport.
“We are so thankful to The Cummings Foundation for this grant award,” said Emmaus Executive Director Jeanine Murphy. “It will give Emmaus the opportunity to take our level of service to those in most need to the next level and enable us to seek solutions for the most difficult to serve within the homeless population—those who live on the streets.”
Cummings Foundation chose Emmaus as part of its annual “$100K for 100” grant initiative. The grant is payable over three years. Cummings has awarded more than $100 million in grants in recent years. It primarily supports nonprofits in Middlesex, Essex and Suffolk counties in Massachusetts.
“The street outreach worker that Emmaus will hire through this grant program will be charged with identifying unsheltered individuals in lower Essex County and connecting them to community resources,” said Emmaus Director of Philanthropy Gretchen B. Arntz. “She or he will bring together emergency services such as police and mental health crisis workers to strategize on the best ways to assist these people and ultimately save lives.”
Since 1985, Haverhill-based Emmaus, has helped more than 30,000 children and adults out of homelessness and toward self-sufficiency. This past year, Emmaus has helped 4,085 people, including 2,353 children through its shelters and housing programs. On any given night, 300 adults and children will call Emmaus “home,” agency officials said.
In addition to its emergency shelters for families and individuals, Emmaus owns and operates 95 units of permanent affordable housing, provides food to those residing in Emmaus housing and provides enrichment programs for school-aged children and their mothers through Emmaus.