Evelyn House (Stoughton)

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Evelyn House

Evelyn House in Stoughton is a family shelter run by Father Bill's & MainSpring.

Patriot Ledger article published May 3, 2004

First residents of Stoughton shelter move in today

By NADINE HOFFMAN The Patriot Ledger

Purple flowers hang from the wrought iron signpost that marks 94 Prospect St. in Stoughton, and a small bed of freshly mulched tulips grows in the side yard.

Inside the big tan house, the rooms each have their own flair, some in subtle shades and patterns with teddy bear themes and others with bold colors and designs.

Each has been arranged immaculately - beds made, towels folded neatly and a bouquet of flowers with notes that say ‘‘Happy Mother's Day!'' on the dresser. They are all stocked with cribs, toiletries, children's books and laundry baskets in the closets.

As neighbors and volunteers from local churches who furnished the rooms toured the Evelyn M. Lynch family shelter during an open house yesterday, surprise - not tension - was the prevailing mood.

‘‘I just can't get over how beautiful this is!'' and ‘‘It's like a bed-and-breakfast'' and even ‘‘I wish I could get their interior decorator'' were common remarks as about 75 people visited the new shelter for the homeless.

Two years after the MainSpring Coalition for the Homeless of Brockton started its legal battle against Stoughton's zoning board to get permission to open the 16-bedroom shelter, Evelyn House was to open officially today.

Selectmen granted the permit, then took it away after neighbors lobbied to have MainSpring stripped of the necessary paperwork.

During the shelter's dedication, Dennis Carman, the director of MainSpring, told a story about the Apostle Peter jumping out of his boat and into the sea to meet Jesus, who was walking toward him on the water. Like Peter's actions, he said, ‘‘what a leap of faith'' Mainspring's work has been.

‘‘The trial has been a long one, but so many good things have happened,'' he said.

The Rev. Don Bizer of First Congregational Church in Stoughton, gave the invocation for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. He called the shelter ‘‘a place where lives will be changed'' and prayed for those who opposed the shelter. ‘‘We lift up those for whom this house has been a discomfort,'' the Rev. Bizer said.

‘‘This has been a long time coming for us, with a lot of bumps in the road, but it all pays off today,'' said Gerald Ryan of MainSpring's board of trustees. Ryan thanked members of the community who had supported the shelter while MainSpring fought to open.

Jay Lynch, the lawyer who handled MainSpring's case and whose mother the shelter is named for, cut the ribbon on the new facility.

Richard Poole, a Brockton resident and member of First Congregational Church, which furnished one of the shelter's rooms, said it was unfortunate that it had taken so long for MainSpring to be allowed to open.

‘‘I think once people realize that they aren't going to have the problems (they worried about), they will get used to it,'' Poole said. ‘‘They have rules here. If the residents don't follow the rules, they won't stay.''

He called it ‘‘a shame'' that a few neighbors who opposed the shelter seemed to speak for the whole community, when in reality, he said, many people supported it. ‘‘There's definitely a need,'' Poole said. ‘‘It's hard to find affordable housing.''

Now that sponsors, most of them local churches, have readied the rooms, the real work begins, Stoughton resident Nora Cole said.

Cole, who attends Immaculate Conception Church and led the effort to furnish the first-floor living room, said the volunteers' job was ‘‘not just to make a beautiful home,'' but to ‘‘share our talents.'' She said she and other church members would continue to do community service at the shelter.

Evelyn House has 16 rooms and will shelter families who have been selected by the Department of Transitional Assistance. It has a computer lab donated by Northeastern University. In it, adults can take computer classes. Residents also can earn their General Educational Development (GED) diplomas. Parents also will be able to take nutrition classes and will be paired with a staff member who will help them find permanent housing.

Five families were scheduled to move into the shelter today , and five more tomorrow.

MainSpring expects to place shelter residents in long-term housing within nine to 10 months of their arrival.

Nadine Hoffman may be reached at nhoffman@ledger.com.

Copyright 2004 The Patriot Ledger