Dear friends of Plymouth,

Periods of uncertainty and change force us to look at the world in a new light. In some cases, that shift in perspective inspires unexpected revelations. For Plymouth Housing in 2020, that light shone on truths we already knew, strengthening our commitment to our beliefs.

We’ve said for years that a home is lifesaving, that housing is healthcare. The connection could not have been more direct last year, when our homes became places of refuge. As the economic ramifications of the pandemic have pushed more people in our community into homelessness, the urgent need for Plymouth’s planned growth is even more critical.

We’ve known that racial justice is central to the work of ending homelessness. However, the nationwide anti-racist organizing following the killing of George Floyd sparked bold advocacy by our staff, which led us to strengthen and deepen our commitment to racial justice.

But most of all, we were reminded of the importance of the people at the core of our work: our dedicated front-line staff who make change every day; and our residents, who take steps to trust, heal, and become bedrock members of their communities.

So in the last year, we asked ourselves again and again: How can we best ensure the wellbeing and success of the people at the core of our mission? While that work is happening in many ways, our immediate focus was on their safety and combatting COVID-19.

To protect staff and residents from COVID-19, we rolled out a suite of new policies and procedures including additional janitorial services, distribution of personal protective equipment, premium pay for on-site staff, and vaccination clinics for staff and residents. Plymouth is also working to strengthen building safety for our staff and residents with a safety consultant. With their help, we will develop new policies and ensure this work is ongoing.

In 2020, Plymouth Housing marked its 40th anniversary. Over the decades, our core values have been key to our resiliency and success. They have guided us through many challenges, taking us from a single 30-room building staffed by volunteers, to a robust organization making a difference in over 1,100 lives every day.

We enter our fifth decade in a period of ambitious growth. In March 2020, we opened the first building of the PROOF Campaign, Bob and Marcia Almquist Place. We have five more buildings in development, all of which will open by 2023. As we grow, we hold our values at the forefront of our work. They will carry us toward a brighter future where everybody has a home.

Paul Lambros
CEO

Jane Zalutsky
Board President

In August 2020, we announced the close of our PROOF Campaign. As a community, we raised an astounding $59.1 million, which will allow Plymouth to:

• Build 6 buildings with 600 apartments for our neighbors who have experienced chronic homelessness
• Establish an endowment that will support over 1,800 Plymouth resident each year
• Restore Plymouth’s historic buildings, ensuring 500 apartments remain in great condition for years to come

Nearly 700 individuals, foundations, and corporations joined together to accomplish this goal, united by a belief in the power of permanent supportive housing to bring our neighbors out of chronic homelessness and into healing communities.

This campaign was bookended with surprises. When we first began planning, we couldn’t anticipate the outpouring of support we would see. We began with a vision for 3 new buildings and a small endowment, but once the healthcare community stepped up with major support, we knew we could (and must) make an even bigger impact. We set a goal of $75 million to construct 8 new buildings when we launched the campaign in June 2019.

But then COVID-19 arrived, and the Plymouth capital campaign committee, board, and leadership team reevaluated our priorities. To keep residents and staff safe and healthy, we decided to shift focus to supporting our operations during the pandemic, which meant ending the campaign early.

Now, 600 apartments are well underway, with five PROOF buildings in development and one, Bob and Marcia Almquist Place, already completed. (See a full development timeline below.)

The PROOF Campaign was not only a success in terms of dollars raised or the impact those dollars will enable. We also saw the campaign as an opportunity to inform people in our region about homelessness and the power of permanent supportive housing, using facts as well as first-hand experiences.

Our deepest gratitude goes to the Plymouth staff and residents who shared their stories and became the faces of our campaign. They gave thousands of people a new understanding of homelessness and a window into our resilient community, which those people will carry with them.