Building community, one bowl at a time
Every year on the first weekend of October, the Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter (MATS) hosts an Empty Bowls fundraiser. ConVal students and potters from MAXT Maker Space donate bowls. Local businesses provide gift certificates or items for our raffle, and the Dublin Community Center donates its space to us for the afternoon. Then people show support for MATS by donating for a bowl before they break bread and eat soup with friends old and new from the Monadnock region.
The meaning behind an empty bowl
An empty bowl symbolizes the unmet food and basic needs of the millions of people around the world who face hunger, poverty, and food insecurity every single day. When someone brings a bowl home from this event, it is a reminder that hunger is a daily struggle for many families — “a souvenir of conscience.”
A path to permanent housing
The funds raised during the Empty Bowls event support men, women, and children who need housing. Working with MATS’s two staff members, participants gather resources, build a budget, save money, find daycare and transportation, and prepare for the future. These practical steps help them gain the confidence and security they need to find sustainable housing.
Sometimes, MATS steers people through the daunting process of applying for Medicaid or Medicare. MATS works with local agencies such as town welfare, the River Center, the public schools, and other social services to help people find the security needed to obtain housing. This year alone, MATS has worked with 24 people in the transition process from homelessness to sustainable housing.
A transitional shelter
MATS is not an emergency shelter. As a transitional shelter, guests apply for and agree to specific program rules so that we can ensure their success in finding permanent housing. An emergency shelter’s primary goal is to provide temporary shelter and immediate relief. The closest emergency shelter is the Hundred Nights Emergency Shelter and Resource Center in Keene.
A transitional shelter gives unhoused individuals the time they need to get back on their feet. With the lack of housing in this area, it can take years to find a place to live. For example, one family stayed at MATS for several years before they finally found housing they could afford, was close to work, and kept their children in the same school district.
Coming together for neighbors in need
This year’s gathering of friends and neighbors over soup put the purpose of the annual Empty Bowls event into practice: bringing our community’s empathy, time, and care to neighbors in need. Their shared meal expressed a commitment to ending hunger and making a difference by showing they care. Thank you to everyone who supported this event.
Elizabeth Goodhue is a board member at the Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter (MATS). To learn more about MATS, visit matsnh.org.