Grants aim to halt homelessness

By April Simpson, Globe Correspondent  |  June 30, 2005

Twenty years ago, Lydia Clapp, 55, says she and her husband had no idea that they would spiral into a bad American dream.

Ronald Clapp, 59, was the founder and vice president of an industrial cleaning company, and Lydia was a nurse working in private home care. The couple adopted a 4-year-old son with cerebral palsy, and Lydia gave birth to another son three years later.

After Ronald was diagnosed with a brain tumor in the late 1980s, the family had to live off of Lydia's earnings. Then, an economic downturn decreased Lydia's prospects for work, the family's landlord evicted them, and the Clapps moved into a motel until they could find affordable housing that met their handicapped son's needs.

''Even those of us who wanted to devote our lives to helping others sometimes end up needing help ourselves," Lydia Clapp said during a luncheon yesterday.

With the help of Project Hope, which aids homeless families, the Clapps found a suitable apartment.

They are among more than 100 families that have benefited from funds given to area social service organizations by the Gillette Company since 2002.

The Gillette Company introduced yesterday a different approach to homelessness. The company named seven Boston-area social service agencies, including Project Hope, as the first grant recipients in a program that will provide $800,000 this year to prevent homelessness in Boston, as opposed to reacting to it.

The Gillette FaceForward grants for homelessness prevention, totaling $400,000, will help more than 500 families in Greater Boston keep their homes. The funds will be used for rental assistance, foster-care payments, utility debts, and other expenses that could make the difference between people staying in homes or losing them, said Cathy Chizauskas, vice president of civic affairs for the Gillette Company.

Markeithia Silver, 40, benefited from Gillette funds awarded this year to the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership. After Silver was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, she was forced to take time off from her job as a Boston police officer and subsequently fell behind in her rent payments.

''I've learned a lesson when faced with a crisis," Silver said. ''Don't wait to find a solution. There are good samaritans out there who care and are willing to stop and help you."