CASPAR, Inc. has been providing direct service to adults and youth confronting alcoholism and addiction for over 40 years. Fifty nine artworks now hang at the 107-bed emergency shelter in Cambridge and at an addictions recovery center and the Support Services Center in Somerville.

Our most recent placement with CASPAR was at the Emergency Services Shelter in Cambridge. The staff serves homeless men and women who also struggle with substance abuse and mental illness. The center provides three daily meals, 365 days, of the year and is open 24 hours a day.

 

 

In addition to shelter, they provide case management, nursing services, and counseling. The shelter is temporary home to many people each year who are experiencing emotional and material hardship. The Staff at the Emergency Service Center are wanted to add original artwork to the space to transform it from “ugly and institutional to more inspiring and uplifting.”

 

 

Now, artwork hangs in the women’s dorm, men’s dorm, outside the kitchen, in the case management office, conference rooms, and large day room where guests congregate, eat, and use the computer. One client who helped select artwork shared their experience with us.

“I am an artist and love to share my insights about other artists’ work. I hope these pieces will bring pleasure and happiness to the shelter community.”

 

The Supportive Services office in Somerville serves as a drop-in center and employment program center for newly sober clients 18 years of age and older wishing to reenter the workforce. Employment Center staff assists clients hone their job-readiness skills by helping to develop a job search plan, providing employment counseling, hosting workshops, offering cover letter and résumé critiques, and organizing networking groups.

 

 

CASPAR’s clients include those with little to no employment experience as well as those with extensive work histories. They are people who identify as GLBTQ, the homeless and unstably housed, veterans, ex-offenders, those living with HIV or AIDS. CASPAR offers the simple idea that by walking through their doors, there is hope for today.

Learn more online at http://www.casparinc.org/