Our History

Lowell Transitional Living Center began in August of 1986 as the Middlesex Shelter. The “Shelter”, as it was frequently called, began as a direct response by a group of concerned and compassionate citizens to the plight of individuals and families living in their cars while the temperatures frequently dipped below zero. Their challenge began with, “How can we, as a community, eliminate the need for individuals living in their vehicles?” and resulted in a 20-bed shelter providing hot meals, clean clothing and a shower to homeless men and women of Greater Lowell. In August of 1986, the community’s three family shelters were already in existence and meeting the needs of many homeless families within our community.

During the years between 1986 and 1994, the “Shelter” grew from 20 to 90 beds and frequently experienced overflow in the winter months. In addition, the agency opened its meal program to the community at large and had a cadre of talented nurses and volunteers to assist individuals. Although many individuals were placed in housing during this time, many more remained chronically homeless. Simultaneous to this evolution, was the breakdown of  ommunity resources such as the Department of Mental Health, Department of Social Services, Division of Youth Services and many more.  Young adults began flooding homeless shelters, creating a new generation of homeless, disenfranchised individuals. As the general population aged, many elders, on fixed incomes and without family supports, also began appearing in homeless shelters.

In 1996, the vision for the organization was to move from “three hots and a cot” to a multi-service agency providing a broad scope of services to those in need. The staff of the Middlesex Shelter began to discuss with board members, community leaders and other like agencies, alternative ways to meet the changing needs of a growing number of people.

In December of 1998, after much local and national research, the Middlesex Shelter adopted a “sober” policy. In May 2000, the name of the organization changed to Lowell Transitional Living Center (LTLC).

Today, LTLC is the largest individual shelter in the City of Lowell. We now also offer 12 supportive housing residences. The on-site housing and supportive services provided by LTLC are critical components in the local Continuum of Care.

In addition to staff, over the course of a year, approximately 250-300 volunteers support the center in a variety of ways. Many organizations and church groups sign on to serve meals in the center’s kitchen on a particular night every month. Other groups choose to raise money for the organization through company-sponsored events with matching funds made available through their place of employment. Many schools in the area promote student involvement through specific projects such as neighborhood clean-up days, car washes and clothing drives. Students from UMass/Lowell and Middlesex Community College volunteer at the center as part of their service learning curriculum and often continue to do so long after the requirements of the course is complete. In a few cases, students who have volunteered have remained with the center and have been hired as permanent staff.

The center provides supportive services for homeless men and women from the Greater Lowell Area aged 18 years and older. All of our services are free of charge and are available to the community as a whole as well as the clients who reside at the center. These services are vitally important to the clients that receive them and the greater community at large.

We believe that a consistent, focused, client driven approach towards addressing the tragedy of homelessness is the best and most effective method towards ending these crises.  There is hope. There is help. Here, at the Lowell Transitional Living Center, we focus all our efforts in facilitating a positive change in people’s lives. At LTLC we end homelessness. . . .one person at a time.