Issue link: http://southshoremagazine.uberflip.com/i/919874
22 Weighing a much healthier 125 pounds, Jean is now seeing a psychiatrist, has plans to start looking for a job, and celebrated 20 years of sobriety last April. "I thought I was going to be in that shelter forever. You lose hope after a few months," Jean said. "I wanted to give up, but I didn't and I'm glad I didn't." Jean, who grew up in Braintree, said there's no way she would have been in a position to move into the Rust House without her faith in God and the support she received from FBMS. She's especially grateful for her triage worker at the shelter who helped her get back on her feet. To better address homelessness, FBMS has a 5-year strategic plan that includes: creating a new program to assist families experiencing homelessness; building new, permanent supportive housing units across the region; and creating a Housing Resource Center that would strengthen the triage process to help many more people like Jean avoid shelters, or leave a shelter to enter stable housing. "They were invested. They actually care about me as a person," Jean said. "That's the most redeeming thing about Father Bill's, besides the housing. The quality of my life changed. I don't feel so hopeless." Rust House is located on Main Street in Hingham. FINDING A HOME & HOPE IN HINGHAM W hen Jean Routt got sober in 1997, she thought she had spent her last night in a homeless shelter. But life had other plans. Over a year-and-a-half span, four of Jean's loved ones all passed away. Jean stopped sleeping and eating, and her weight dropped to 97 pounds. Soon thereafter, she lost her job, was evicted from her apartment and was on her way to a nervous breakdown. In February 2016, with nearly two decades of sobriety under her belt, she showed up at the front door of Father Bill's Place in Quincy with nowhere else to go. In February 2017, Jean showed up at a much different type of front door in Hingham. With a suitcase in hand, Jean, 59, walked into the Rust House: a home with permanent, supportive housing apartments operated by Father Bill's & MainSpring (FBMS). Through a partnership between the Hingham Congregational Church and FBMS, the Rust House provides a safe, encouraging environment for women who have fallen on hard times and are trying to get back on their feet. Today, FBMS operates approximately 500 permanent, supportive housing units for formerly homeless individuals, families and veterans across Southern Massachusetts.