September 29, 2022 Submitted by Patrick Ronan, Director of Community Relations at Father Bills & Mainspring
A group of volunteers from Hingham’s Glastonbury Abbey have been recognized by Father Bill’s & MainSpring (FBMS) for their continued support of local residents in need. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the volunteers have regularly provided home-cooked meals, in-kind donations, birthday celebrations, and holiday cheer to the residents of Claremont House, a Quincy home for 12 formerly homeless women.
On Tuesday, September 27, FBMS presented its Richard C. and Virginia A. Welch Dedicated Volunteer Award to the group, known as the Claremont House Team from Glastonbury Abbey, during the agency’s supporter reception held at the Launch at Hingham Shipyard. The volunteer group is comprised of more than 30 lay women of the monastery community including members of the women’s spirituality group Anam Cara.
The Welch award is named after the late Richard C. Welch, the co-founder and President of Dyna-Fab Company and a longtime member of the board of directors at FBMS, and his late wife Virginia. The award is given annually to a volunteer or supporter who demonstrates a significant commitment to the agency’s mission.
“The Claremont House Team from Glastonbury Abbey has been a beacon of hope and positivity for the women at Claremont House,” said FBMS President & CEO John Yazwinski. “Particularly during the darkest days of this pandemic, our agency relied on the generosity of our donors and volunteers to step up for our most vulnerable neighbors. The team from Glastonbury Abbey epitomizes the very best of our community, and their kindness will have a lasting impact on the residents of Claremont House.”
FBMS, a regional leader of services to prevent and end homeless, provides case management services to the women living at Claremont House, a property owned by NeighborWorks Housing Solutions. Across Southern Massachusetts, FBMS operates more than 600 permanent supportive housing units for formerly homeless individuals, families, and Veterans.
Mayre Hammond, Ellie Devine, and Brother Dan Walters have helped lead the volunteer group, which hopes to inspire other groups to support FBMS and other worthy causes. In addition to regularly delivering bagged lunches and prepared dinners to Claremont House, the volunteers support residents by making in-person visits with cake and gifts on their birthdays, wish list gifts during the Christmas holidays and donating household items to residents moving out on their own.
“We’ve got a very generous, open-hearted group of people at Glastonbury, who just want to do more,” said Mayre Hammond, a Weymouth resident. “They are very generous with their time and resources to share their gifts and blessings with people who aren’t as fortunate.”