For most of Americans, it wouldn’t take much more than an unexpected rent increase, an injury, lost job, divorce or prolonged illness to challenge our ability to pay for our home, utilities and food.  Each year, hundreds of families find themselves temporarily homeless due to unexpected life events.  With a declining number of state-funded homeless shelters, grassroots organizations like Friends of Families in Transition (FIT) have sprung up to provide food, support and dignity to families who have lost their homes and are currently housed in hotels and motels in Metrowest Boston.  For these families, temporary hotel housing gives shelter, but has many challenges.  While families work to secure permanent housing, they are moved from familiar urban settings with available public transportation and nearby services to suburburn hotels with no transportation, limited access to walkable services, no available kitchens or food storage, and unfamiliar schools and environments for children.

FIT supports these families by coordinating hot, home-cooked meals, delivery of fresh produce and supplies, coordination of social outings, and other resources.  Envisa wanted to get involved in this neighbor-helping-neighbor service and teamed up to cook and deliver a hot meal to families housed in hotels in Northborough, MA and Westborough, MA.  While we hope the families enjoyed the baked chicken, sauteed green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, we know that our employees really enjoyed being able to share a bit of their time and energy to offer some hands-on support.  We all know that at any moment, we could be the ones needing a hand, so we’re happy to offer one when we can.