EVERY SUCCESS STORY IS A GREAT STORY
Amy Grassette

My perception of homelessness was the same as many other people's," says Amy Grassette. "Veterans, drunks…not families." Then her family became homeless.
Amy had worked with young children at Head Start. Her husband, William, had always worked. They had two teenage boys at home, so making the money stretch each month was always a challenge, but they had never been homeless before.
The apartment they rented was substandard. It was too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. Raw sewage leaked from the bathroom ceiling. The landlord refused to fix anything. They took him to court to improve their living conditions, and would eventually win, but it was a process that would take months. In the meantime, he raised the rent dramatically.
One day at work, William fell from a ladder while installing insulation. He severely injured his knee and was unable to work. In order to keep the cash flowing, Amy began to provide childcare in their home, and eventually, William began working again as a driver for Groton Shuttle, taking people to and from the Boston airport. By August 2001, the Grassettes had acquired Groton Shuttle and were running it themselves. It seemed only a matter of time until they would be on their feet again.
Then September 11th happened.
Air travel came to a standstill, and for months there was virtually no demand for an airport shuttle company. They were forced to lay off drivers and sell their vehicles. Soon they realized they could not keep the company afloat.
It was a domino effect," Amy says, describing how they became homeless over the following months. The loss of the company meant no income. Increased rents meant they could not stay in their apartment, even as they were successfully suing their landlord. They could not pay the rent, and were forced to leave the apartment. They went to stay temporarily with Amy's mother and stepfather. "We had to leave a lot behind," she says.
The family had applied for Section 8 housing, and they were number nine on the waiting list, so they assumed their stay with Amy's mother would be brief. But then came a freeze on Section 8 funding. Two years later, they were still number nine on the list.
In June 2003, Amy’s mother and stepfather divorced. The Grassettes had nowhere to go. For the first time, they were homeless. They did not fit Amy’s idea of homelessness, but they were homeless nonetheless.
“Being homeless humbled me,” Amy recalls. “It put my life in a whole different direction, and I’m grateful for that, but it was difficult on my teenage boys. It affected their grades, their behavior.” She pauses, then adds, “It affected them the most.”
The family had applied for emergency shelter through the city of Worcester and was placed in a motel for three months. They were receiving food stamps at the time, but had no way to cook in the motel room. “We would live for days on peanut butter and crackers.”
They had kept one car after the shuttle service collapsed. Some days, William and the boys would drive out on the highway, get out of the car, and pick up bottles to redeem for cash in order to put gas in the car. In the evenings, when Amy knew her family needed more to eat than peanut butter and crackers, she would humble herself and go to a manager at Wendy’s or McDonald’s and ask for help. “I was so impressed with their generosity.” At one point, the manager of a Stop and Shop pulled five dollars out of his pocket so that Amy could buy bread and milk.
When they left the motel, William and Amy still could not afford their own apartment, so they found themselves at Youville House, a shelter in Worcester. While staying at the shelter, Amy got involved with the Family Health Center (FHC).
Determined to put a roof over his family’s head, William took another driving job, hauling auto parts all over New England. When he reported his income to the welfare office, he was told that their income was “over the limit,” and the Grassettes were kicked out of the shelter.
By December 2003, they were able to get their own apartment. “When we moved in,” Amy recalls, “we had no beds and no refrigerator. The staff from FHC was great. They came for home visits. They helped us a lot. The kindness we felt along the way made me feel good about people.” They have been stably housed ever since. The boys are doing better. Amy feels that she and her family are safe.
Since her family’s experience being homeless, Amy has become a vocal advocate for homeless families. Suzanne Billings from FHC encouraged her to join the Consumer Panel of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Homeless Families Project, a national program Amy has been involved with ever since, providing guidance to SAMHSA on the realities of family homelessness. In addition, Amy began serving on the National HCH Consumer Advisory Board. She also volunteers at FHC, providing support to families experiencing homelessness. In fact, Amy has recently become Volunteer Coordinator.