Building Hope - The New Beth-El Center, Inc.
For over 40 years, the Beth-El Center has delivered hope, compassion and lifesaving care to thousands of families, children, veterans and individuals in the Greater Milford area who were facing housing instability and food insecurity.
Our goals are simple, treat everyone with dignity and respect, do everything possible to move those in need to independence, and bring whole communities together in the work to solve homelessness and hunger.
We have evolved from modest beginnings as a soup kitchen to todays Center with six very active services that include our Emergency Shelter services, Community Kitchen and Hygiene Hub, Permanent Supportive Housing, Diversion/Homeless Prevention Services, Outreach and Engagement and No Freeze Services. As these services continue to increase in size and scope, Beth-El Center is looking towards the future as a community resource that serves the whole individual through a multi-disciplinary lens, providing not only secure housing but also promoting increased self-sufficiency, self-esteem and self-worth to lead to independence.
With this in mind, Beth-El Center plans to continue its evolution as a community resource by Building Hope for the next generation of those in need.
The Center’s expansion and construction project will result in larger physical space, adapted to provide programs for life skills development, workforce and continuing education advancement, community engagement and integration spaces, a non-denominational chapel, suites for literally homeless families including a children’s playground and daycare, micro-shelter for individuals and couples without children and a 24/7 community hub for access to life saving basic needs for anyone in need. These as all vital elements in our fight to solve homelessness and hunger.
On Tuesday, June 18, 2024, the Milford Planning and Zoning Board unanimously approved Beth-El Center’s proposed new operations site at 993 Bridgeport Avenue in Milford. In addition, there were over thirty written letters of support for the project plus fifty supporters who were present at the Planning and Zoning meeting. The Beth-El Center project had no community opposition to the planned expansion, a testament to the positive and trusting relationships built by the Beth-El Center with the community at large.
While some funding has been secured, we will need the support of our entire community to build the new Beth-El Center.
Please keep in touch with Beth-El Center’s project here as we will give you updates on our progress in Building Hope.
For information about Beth-El Center; please contact Jennifer Paradis, Executive Director, jparadis@bethelmilford.org. For information on the Capital Campaign; please contact Jennifer Paradis or Dick Popilowski, Chief Development Officer, rpopilowski@bethelcenter.org.
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