RUMFORD — Rumford Group Homes Inc. invites the public to attend its Rumford Family Center open house, from 2 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28.

The open house will emphasize the importance of providing emergency shelter and supportive services in Rumford. The shelter gives an emphasis to those families from Oxford and Franklin County who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

“As part of our mission, we continue to find new ways to address homelessness so that people are able to secure safe and affordable housing.” said Alan J. Monier, executive director. “The Rumford Family Center operates on a nationally known best practice standard called Housing First. This emphasizes the return of families to permanent housing as quickly as possible with supportive services designed to help them maintain their housing.”

Paula Paladino, director of homeless services, said the Housing First program provides families with six months of individualized case management and social services support to enable them to maintain their housing, and to attain improved social and economic well-being.

Rumford Group Homes is adopting the Housing First model in working with families who are homeless, in part from a grant from the TD Bank Charitable Foundation.

Last fall, Rumford Group Homes applied for grant funding from TD Bank’s Housing for Everyone Grant competition so that they could increase the number of families served and to implement the Housing First model. TD Bank responded by providing the lead gift of $10,000 for the Rumford Family Center.

Since then, local businesses have supported the model through donations and financial assistance from a variety of sources.

For more information, including directions to the open house, call 364-3551, ext. 212. To make a referral, call 364-3551.