Always Home Welcomes Two New Board Members

Always Home is excited to announce the addition of two new members to its Board of Directors: Ali Mitchell and Lydia Shell. “The appointment of these two women comes at a time when low-income families’ access to affordable housing is threatened,” said Always Home’s Board President, Annemarie Seifert. “Ali and Lydia bring not only the strength of their experience, but also a deep dedication to advancing Always Home’s mission, Preventing Family Homelessness.”
 
Ali Mitchell is a policy, strategic planning, and non-profit management professional who currently works for Lighthouse Consulting Group (RI). “I am excited to join the Always Home board because it has done what many organizations struggle to do,” said Mitchell. “It has taken on a big goal - Preventing Family Homelessness - and has not gotten overwhelmed by its importance or complexity. Instead, Always Home takes clear steps and develops practical programs to accomplish it.” She added, “I love this community and feel honored to have the opportunity to help Always Home make it a more connected, more compassionate, and more accessible place to call home.”
 
Lydia Shell is Director of Philanthropy for the Mystic Aquarium, where she has worked for the past 15 years. “I am excited and honored to have an opportunity to serve on the board of Always Home,” said Shell. “This organization has done so much to help those in need of emergency housing assistance and has worked tirelessly to prevent homelessness from happening to the most vulnerable in our community.”
 
Last fiscal year Always Home served 321 families in housing crisis (1,045 family members including 640 minor children). “Our organization is dedicated exclusively to working with families with minor children,” said Always Home’s Executive Director Tricia Cunningham. “We help parents resolve their crisis and stabilize their housing, so they can focus again on what’s truly important – their child’s wellbeing.” Cunningham added, “In the current housing climate, there are few housing options available and affordable to low-income families. We need to do everything in our power to make sure families stay housed so that our region’s children don’t grow up with memories of homelessness.”
 
About Always Home
Always Home is a private 501(C)3) non-profit formed in 1998 to address the needs of Eastern Connecticut's homeless and at-risk families. As a key player in the 2-1-1/Eastern Coordinated Access Network (ECAN), Always Home works closely with the other service providers in the Eastern Connecticut regional network to ensure that homeless and at-risk families receive the services they need to attain housing stability.