Mission and Values

Our mission is to help individuals and families on the Lower Cape who are at risk of losing their homes to stay in their homes, or to find alternate housing if they have lost their homes. We seek to achieve this goal by addressing the many issues that accompany near-homelessness, such as need for food, transportation, temporary shelter, clothing, financial assistance and education.

For HPC case managers, the best moments come when we have been able to make a real difference for a client.   "The families are so grateful, they have their pride, they're struggling and they just need a helping hand.".

A Senior's Desperation: Mary is an elderly woman who was forced to leave her home and was living in a friend's garage. She came to HPC desperate and crying - she didn't know where to turn.   Mary's HPC case manager helped her to qualify for senior housing. Now she has a safe place to live and many new friends. She helps her neighbors by driving them to doctor's appointments and to Council on Aging activities.

A Student's Loss: Cathy was a high school senior living with her Dad. When she lost him to cancer, she needed a place to turn. HPC case managers were able to find her a safe place to live, helped her keep her car so that she could keep her job, helped her stay in school and graduate, and helped her apply to college. She is now a student at a state university and doing well.

A Young Family's Dilemma: Both Mom and Dad work locally, but even with two incomes, it wasn't enough to find affordable housing with handicap access for their disabled child. When their child needed hospitalization, HPC stepped in to provide a hand-up and link them to the help they needed. In Mom's words: "Whenever my son was hospitalized in Boston and we lost work to be with him, HPC was there to help us with our rent and other bills. With our case manager's encouragement we applied and were accepted for a Habitat for Humanities home. We are so grateful for HPC's commitment to keep families like ours safe and whole."

The threat of homelessness is all too real for many of our neighbors and fiends.

The "Millers*" are a young couple with a new baby who both work, but still can't find affordable housing. They had to move out of their winter rental when the summer came, and they're sleeping in a garage.

"Carol*" is a single mother with two young children and no daycare. She works two waitress jobs to pay her rent. With the slow economy, her hours and tips are down and she is struggling.

"Susan*" is a full time secretary who's husband works in construction. They have contributed to food programs and Lower Cape Outreach in the past, now they need our help. When construction work dried up, "Susan's" husband found a second job, but they fell behind in payments on their home. Now they have a court date for eviction. If they are evicted, there is no state of federal program for them. "Susan" couldn't afford school supplies for her kids and HPC was able to provide them through the "Backpack to School" program. "Susan" and her family need our help.

"Jane*", a young mother with a four year old child, was laid off like so many in these economic times. "Jane's" husband, a veteran who served in IRAQ, passed away recently. There were some veteran benefits and social security - but it wasn't enough for "Jane" and her son to live and stay in their home. When they lost their home to foreclosure, "Jane" was left grieving for her husband and trying to care for her son while facing homelessness. Our HPC case workers helped "Jane" find a new job, found her child care vouchers from "Children's' Place" and helped her work out a budget. "Jane" needed a helping hand to guide her through the crisis and help her get back on her feet.

"Joe*", a Vietnam veteran, lived in the woods in Orleans all last summer and fall. On the day before Veteran's Day this November, he came to the HPC office, showed his military ID and asked for help getting back to his hometown in Louisiana. Al told our case worker that he had been denied veterans' benefits for his mental health issues because they "existed before we sent you to Vietnam".

HPC, with the help of the Chatham VFW and the office of Veterans Affairs, got "Joe" that bus ticket back home. The VA is also looking into his case more closely and making sure he gets any benefits he is entitled to. "Joe" told our HPC case worker "this Veteran's Day, I'll be sleeping on a warm bus and not in the woods for the first time in a long time".

* Client's real names are not used to protect their privacy.

As we all know, grants from large organizations are being reduced, just as the need is increasing. The response from our community has been wonderful. Over one hundred new volunteers have come forward to support the work of the Homeless Prevention Council in the past four months. Our neighbors are stepping up to help.

Recently, the Homeless Prevention Council received a $15,000 grant from the United Way. The grant will support our continued outreach in Provincetown. We have a case worker who is in our office in Provincetown one day every week. We also support the Provincetown Soup Kitchen. With this grant, we will be able to extend our service to the people in Provincetown at risk of homelessness by taking our service to the streets (and to the beaches) to seek out those who need our help.