Emergency Housing

The Friends Emergency Housing Program is an emergency shelter for families, providing 24-hour, 7 days a week staffing. The program provides intensive, community-based case management and short-term housing, aftercare and outreach services for families at risk of future homelessnes; along with transitional housing units in Concord. Families are provided with the support, education and training to assist them in acquiring long-term skills and accessing resources to find and maintain permanent housing.

As lengths of stay have increased, primarily due to a lack of affordable housing in the community, the program has taken the lead in developing an intensive, comprehensive and highly successful case management component.

Last year, the shelter was extensively renovated to increase family capacity. We have 8 family bedrooms, three living rooms, 3 kitchens, 4 full and 2 half baths, a class room, a resource/class room, and a toddler playground. The first floor bedroom, kitchen, living room and bathroom are fully handicapped accessible, meeting all ADA standards. Each family has a private bedroom and shares with others the kitchens, common rooms and bathrooms.

The purpose of the program is to break the cycle of homelessness for families. Founded on establishing a sense of safety, supportive counseling and educational services are provided to help residents find and maintain permanent housing. A safe, consistent, predictable, and respectful environment that keeps families together as a unit sets the stage for success at achieving individualized goals.