An outreach group is upgrading to more spacious quarters to house women experiencing homelessness in Falmouth through the winter months. Belonging To Each Other has teamed up with St. Barnabas’s Church to offer a home with more bedrooms and common areas than they have had in the past as a refuge from November through April.
On Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 1, as a steady rain fell, the house—a vacated building owned by the church—was abuzz with a bevy of volunteers hauling in furniture, linens and kitchen supplies. Gina M. Torielli, BTEO’s executive director, moved from room to room with instructions and encouragement.
“Tonight it’s going to be 30 degrees,” Ms. Torielli said. “So we’re working like hell trying to get them in tonight.”
The “them” are seven women, all of whom are living in tents or cars in Falmouth. Once in the house, the women will be helped by a suite of social workers, with the aim of finding them stable housing ahead of next summer, Ms. Torielli said.