The Envision Bank Home for Veterans, located at 26 Moulton Street in Randolph, will become home to 10 formerly homeless Veterans.
Randolph-based Envision Bank provided partial funding – and made a $1 land sale – to help build a new home for formerly homeless veterans.
The Envision Bank Home for Veterans in Randolph opened this week through a partnership between Envision Bank and Father Bill’s & MainSpring (FBMS), a nonprofit organization providing services to prevent and end homelessness in Southern Massachusetts.
The new 2-story building, located next to Envision Bank’s downtown Randolph branch, will house 10 formerly homeless veterans. Owned and operated by FBMS, the property contains 10 efficiency studio apartments, a community room, a program room and an office for FBMS staff.
FBMS and Envision Bank co-hosted a virtual event on Nov. 10 to celebrate the home’s opening during the week of Veterans Day, the organizations said in a joint statement.
“The project began as a dream four years ago when Envision Bank management first discussed the idea of building a home for veterans in need,” Envision Bank and FBMS said in a joint statement. “That dream became a reality thanks to the unique, proactive partnership between Envision Bank and FBMS.”
A $725 million stock bank, Envision last year sold a vacant parcel of land to FBMS for $1, and the bank’s foundation donated $500,000 toward construction, according to the statement. The bank also provided $300,000 in financing to build the house. The total project cost was $2.57 million.
The house will provide on-site case management and services to help tenants gain the skills needed to become more independent. One of the apartments is wheelchair accessible, and another is adapted for hearing and sight impairments.
Envision Bank employees have been helping new tenants move into the apartments.
“Everyone deserves safe, dignified, permanent housing to reclaim their lives – and those who have fought for our freedom, our veterans, are no exception. We are thrilled that our colleagues are able to be there, welcoming Randolph’s newest residents,” Envision Bank President and CEO Bill Parent said in the statement. “We’ve worked hard to make a difference where we can on issues impacting our veterans, the homeless, or those at risk of homelessness. Partnering with Father Bill’s & MainSpring has allowed us to successfully support both of those goals.”
FBMS operates more than 550 permanent supportive housing units on the South Shore and across Southern Massachusetts. On average, FBMS said, 99 percent of its tenants stay housed at least one year, while 93 percent of tenants stay housed at least three years.
“We are incredibly grateful to Envision Bank, the Envision Bank Foundation, the bank’s leadership team, particularly Bill Parent, Jim McDonough, Lou Trubiano and Richard Olson, and the entire Randolph community for committing to this project at a critical time for our mission,” FBMS President and CEO John Yazwinski said. “The way we end homelessness, not just manage it, is by creating more affordable housing, and this is especially important in this time of social distancing. We can never have people sleeping on our shelter floors again, and the Envision Bank Home for Veterans is a perfect example of how the public and private sectors can come together to provide hope to our neighbors in need.”
Derek was one of the first tenants to move into the Envision Bank Home for Veterans, a new property located at 26 Moulton Street in Randolph.
The project’s development team included Curtis Construction Co., Rothschild & Associates, Elton + Hampton Architects, Anser Advisory, and Matera, Vopat, Matera & Johnson. Construction continued during the COVID-19 crisis, according to the statement, as the home was considered essential.
Other funding sources for the $2.57 million project include $1.46 million from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development and the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, $100,000 from the town of Randolph’s Community Preservation Committee, and $75,000 from MassHousing Center for Community Recovery Innovations CCRI.
