Homelessness
With vital services and a place to call home, people have the security they need to pursue their futures.
At Liberty Mutual, we believe in empowering people who are experiencing homelessness by supporting organizations that help meet a continuum of needs — from housing to nutrition to job skills coaching and beyond. Our community partners engage deeply with the people they serve, striving to help them gain a foothold and start building the stable and fulfilling lives they deserve. For children and youth, it can start with something as basic as a safe, beautiful space to play and learn, where they’re free to be kids.
One key part of our commitment is ensuring that our community partners have the resources to meet increased need in times of crisis. Last year, during a challenging period in Boston that strained city services for individuals experiencing homelessness, we provided supplemental grants to three organizations - Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, Friends of Boston’s Homeless and St. Francis House - enabling them to respond quickly to increased health care and shelter needs. It’s just one example of how invaluable our partners’ expertise is to our communities.
Meet our featured community partners
Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Caring and consistent adult relationships, trauma-informed care and the chance to let down one’s guard can be transformative for youth and young adults experiencing homelessness. Bridge Over Troubled Waters (BOTW) — one of Boston’s leading agencies for homeless, runaway and at-risk youth — delivers all of the above, through street outreach, health care, emergency and transitional housing, counseling, life and career skills coaching and more. The pandemic has exacerbated the youth homelessness crisis, and BOTW’s staff has risen to the challenge, doing whatever it takes to be there for young people they serve. Liberty Mutual is proud to be a longstanding corporate partner for BOTW and this year initiated a grant of $2.5 million over five years — their largest gift ever — to support them as they find more and more ways to help young people thrive.
The Home for Little Wanderers
Each year, The Home for Little Wanderers helps bring security and hope to 15,000 children and family members through their residential, educational and clinical services. This year marked the opening of The Home’s new Liberty Village, dedicated to serving young adults who have aged out of the child welfare system and are experiencing homelessness. By offering these young people an alternative to adult shelters, together with comprehensive services and trauma-informed care, The Home helps them regroup, restore their strength and move forward. Liberty Mutual was honored to provide a $1 million grant to The Home in support of this critical work. Liberty Torchbearers, meanwhile, landscaped the exterior, decorated the rooms and purchased artwork from Artists for Humanity, another one of our community partners, for the common areas.
Horizons for Homeless Children
Horizons for Homeless Children is dedicated to alleviating the stress and trauma of homelessness for children and families. By giving young children living in shelters safe, beautiful places to learn, play and grow, Horizons helps ensure that the difficulties these children face today do not need to define their tomorrows. In 2021, the agency opened its new Edgerly Family Horizons Center, which features welcoming spaces for play and learning, including the new Liberty Community Room, and on-site social services for families.
Shining a light on youth experiencing homelessness
Before the pandemic hit, an estimated 4.2 million youth and young adults (or one in 13) were experiencing homelessness annually in the US For several years, Liberty Mutual has championed community organizations working to help these young people achieve stability and security, so they’re free to focus on their dreams. This year, we bolstered that commitment with an integrated campaign to raise awareness of youth homelessness and spotlight the organizations working tirelessly to end it. Developed by Liberty Mutual’s in-house creative team, in partnership with our community partners, the “You know homeless youth” campaign features billboards, subway and bus posters, radio spots, and digital city panels. It also includes an educational microsite, featuring a Q&A with our Foundation President about why this issue is so important.
Source: Morton, M.H., Dworsky, A., & Samuels, G.M. (2017). Missed opportunities: Youth homelessness in America. National estimates. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, 2017.
