MARBLEHEAD – The Lynn Shelter Association, with support from the Marblehead Ministerial Association and Marblehead public school system, will host a concert Saturday, June 25, to raise funds for a new homeless shelter in Lynn.
The “Shelter my Soul” concert, which starts at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center of Marblehead Veterans Middle School, will feature the Chad Hollister Band, the Deb Larkin and Jeff Stout Jazz Quintet, and Lynn singer-songwriter Soneta Srey.
Rev. Clyde Elledge, of St. Andrew’s Church said the idea for this event rose from his visit to the current emergency homeless shelter on Liberty Street, when Elledge saw the poor conditions Lynn’s homeless community had to live under.
“I’ve been to this shelter a few times, and I have a hard time envisioning myself living in this space. Everyone gets down and out in their time and they need a little net. This is supposed to be a net, and I think we can build a better net. That’s what this is all about, creating a more humane and liveable space for people who find themselves down and out,” Elledge said.
Mark Evans, the Lynn Shelter Association’s executive director, said that people staying in the current shelter face subhuman conditions.
“It’s not a place to put human beings in, and we want to get our clients and our staff out of that space,” Evans said. “There’s little to no air circulation, there’s little to no natural light, it does flood, unfortunately, every four or five months, and when it floods, it floods on Saturday night at 2:00 a.m., so we have to evacuate very formidable, compromised people.”
The Lynn Shelter Association’s Development Consultant Kelly Gaule said that she hopes the evening will not just raise money for the construction of a new shelter, but that it will educate the public on the issue of homelessness. Gaule said that the public looks away from the homeless community because of preconceived notions and stereotypes attached to homelessness.
“People are surprised to hear about the people that we’re serving right now, because everyone has this preconceived notion of what a homeless person is, and why they became homeless. We have a 91 year-old woman who’s with us. She took early retirement to support her mother with cancer, and she just ran out of money. After her mother passed away, she had burned through her retirement, her social security. She came to us in her 80s, and as unfortunate as it may be, she will probably die in a shelter,” Gaule said. “As we educate people and raise awareness, I hope that people look at homelessness differently.”
Tickets to this benefit concert cost 50 dollars for adults, and 25 dollars for seniors and children under the age of 17. Those interested in purchasing tickets can buy them online at www.isahome.org/sheltermysoul.
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected]
