A former elementary school in Massachusetts could soon be transformed into the first supportive-living community for women and children affected by divorce in Massachusetts.
The Sparrow Collective offers financial sustainable housing with other services to help women transition through divorce by providing housing, financial and literacy education and planning, legal guidance, career counseling and spiritual support.
“We all know someone who has been through a divorce,” said Susan Tripi, founder of the Sparrow Collective. The organization is in the process of raising $50,000 to help build its “village,” which will include 30 apartment units, onsite day care, business education center, wellness studio and a number of other support services all on site.
Tripi said she was so excited to deliver the organization’s bid materials for the property that she danced up the steps to the town administrator’s office. The road toward a supportive-living community began several years ago when Tripi was working as a divorce coach.”I kept hearing women joking about having an apartment complex or group-living situation,” she said. “Then I went through my own divorce and became acutely aware of the gaps.”
Tripi said she experienced financial instability almost immediately and found herself feeling emotionally ostracized from her religious community. “That’s really when I started doing more research into what women are missing,” she continued. “I kept hearing the same two things; first, it was nearly impossible to keep up with the rising and already expensive cost of housing.
And women living in Worcester County specifically slip into poverty at a higher rate than other Massachusetts counties and stay in that place of poverty for longer. “I remember speaking with other professionals who work with divorce women locally and saying, ‘Are you seeing what I’m seeing?’ I got a resounding ‘Yes!'”
The Sparrow Collective’s services focus on women bringing in somewhere between $35,000 and $75,000 a year. Tripi said for women going through a divorce involving addiction, domestic violence, or homelessness, services are available. “But for women earning between $35,000 and $75,000, very little exists until you become unhoused or find yourself in a dire situation,” Tripi said.
Tripi first saw the former Memorial Elementary School on Aug. 1, 2024, and said she knew immediately this was meant to be. “I knew that day,” she said with excitement building in her voice. “I saw everything, I saw the vision, the life, the peace, the healing.”
The organization is expected to close on the property in early fall with construction to start soon after. Tripi said the plans consist of phased construction, so the building can be used while construction continues.
“It’s bigger than a structure, bigger than a building, we’re trying to tackle a system of poverty impacting women going through a monumental transition.”
With 30 financially sustainable apartments ranging from studios to three-bedroom, Tripi said the commercial kitchen space will be used as a social enterprise catering company, the former library transformed into a business center, and onsite day care that can be used by residents as well as the local community.
“The benefits and blessings go far beyond the women and children we serve, but the local community as well,” she said. “It’s about elevating and uplifting women. We’re investing in them so they can step confidently and financially securely into the next phase of life.”
Should you be in the midst of a divorce or contemplating divorce, contact the Law Offices of Renee Lazar at 978-844-4095 to schedule a FREE one hour no obligation consultation.
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