From Franklin to the Streets of Boston: A Gift of Hope

By J.D. O’Gara
For over 2.2 billion people around the world, December 24th, or Christmas Eve, brings with it a message of love and hope. What better day, then, for the Franklin founders of Make Change for Change (MCFC), which operates a standing fundraising entity in Franklin known as the Sugar Shoppe, to take to Boston streets to present a package of hope to those living outside.
“The Backpack Brigade,” led by Corey and Courtney Nappa as well as a number of volunteers from the area, left from Franklin and distributed 100 backpacks filled with some basic essentials, to people without shelter in Boston on the cold holiday.
“A big part of what we want to do is go out into Boston Common and start the process of developing relationships,” says Corey Nappa, whose family personally lost a loved one who experienced opioid abuse and subsequent homelessness.
“I lost people, one person in general who was very close to me,” says Nappa. He argues that a lack of proper care for mental illness and subsequent self-medication can set up a domino effect of collapsing life events for many homeless people. “Statistically up to 50% of homeless are veterans who didn’t receive proper care and were given opioids. Improper care creating addictions begins a sequence. People end up being homeless. It takes a series of events,” says Nappa.
Motivated to do something, Nappa and his wife, Courtney started Make Change For Change (http://www.makechangeforchange.org/), now a 501 c3 nonprofit that says its mission is to “bridge the gap between giving up and restoring hope for themselves and their families.” The group aims to provide hope, help and ultimately, housing.
The Backpack Brigade was the big step in the hope area.
“This was a comfort/survival pack, with an assortment of items from blankets, gloves, winter hats, an insulated small collapsible cooler, hygiene items and then some candy and fun things that are just something a little bit more that’s a comfort,” says Nappa.
A crew of about 15 volunteers took the backpacks, which were purchased with a donation from Eagle Leasing in Southboro (and items were purchased and donated from many independent donors in and around Franklin, as well as the Massachusetts National Guard), by bus driven by veteran and Franklin Constable John Power, first to the Boston shelter Rosie’s Place and later, to Boston Common.
MCFC has partnered with Rosie’s Place in the past, making party favors for a Valentine’s dinner for people using the shelter, and it has also worked with Horizons Homeless Shelter for Children, setting up an annual gingerbread making station during the holidays.
Nappa says he hopes to expand the Backpack Brigade next year, putting together even more of these packs to hand out.
Nappa says the aim is ultimately to build trust, so that MCFC can also aid homeless individuals in an administrative capacity to help veterans and other homeless people who don’t have mailboxes. “When you don’t have it, it’s kind of hard to go through the process of social security or mental health benefits or EBT,” says Nappa. “It’s too daunting to get through the administrative process to get to where they are.
There’s a lot of homeless people who don’t even want help. If you’re going to have hope, help housing, we need to generate a little bit of trust, maybe get a first name, then a second name, then maybe they will trust that we’re going to help them in a way they’re comfortable with,” says Nappa, mindful of offering respect to those he wishes to help.
The process of building those relationships, says Nappa, will take time, and the organization will learn and grow and adapt as needed.
Although this effort focused on the city, “What we’ve learned through the process of the Sugar Shoppe is there’s a demand in the suburbs,” says Nappa. “We are starting, over the next year, to reach out to a lot of the local shelters,” he says. “The idea is to get something every month throughout the year, build fundraisers, build our relationships and try to do more.”
The last stage of MCFC’s “3 H’s” is homes.
Temporary and permanent housing for people who need it will be MCFC’s goal, says Corey Nappa, “for as long as we’re here on earth.”
If you’d like to learn more about Make Change for Change, visit www.makechangeforchange.org, or to donate, visit www.gofundme/makechange4change. 100% of your purchase at the Sugar Shoppe, at 334 Union Street in Franklin, will also benefit the cause.