People of Housing Security:
Mary Hamric

With a strong passion for improving affordable housing and advancing equity in the community, Mary Hamric is excited to step into her new role as Heading Home’s Strategic Partnerships Director.

This new position, which aims to make housing more accessible to people who need it, provides Mary with the unique opportunity to shape and grow the role from the ground up.

“I’m really excited about this role and what it can do for housing stability in our community,” Mary said. 

This position is made possible through a partnership with the Community Foundation of Bloomington & Monroe County, which received a five-year grant from the Lilly Endowment to address unsheltered homelessness in Monroe County. Learn more about that initiative here.

Mary joined Heading Home’s team in November after serving as the Shelter Director for New Hope for Families, an emergency shelter for families experiencing homelessness. Mary worked as the Shelter Director for two years and loves that Heading Home’s mission, to strengthen housing security and decrease homelessness in this region, closely aligns with New Hope’s. While the decision to leave was difficult, Mary is eager to continue the work she loves on a broader, more macro level. She also recently had a baby and is excited that this role allows her to balance meaningful work with family life.

Mary’s interest in addressing community disparities began early and ultimately led her to pursue a degree in Criminal Justice. When Mary was in high school, her house was broken into and she felt disappointed by how the local justice system handled the situation. This experience sparked her curiosity about why people commit crimes and how systems can improve to offer better support. 

After graduating from Indiana University in just three years, Mary stayed in Bloomington to work as a Juvenile Probation Officer at the Monroe County Circuit Court, a role she held for nearly five years and deeply enjoyed. She shared that this position broadened her understanding of systemic challenges that increase someone’s likelihood of entering the criminal justice system.

Mary later transitioned into the housing sector as a case manager at New Hope, holding that role for a little over a year before becoming Shelter Director. This experience, along with the landlord relationships she built, has helped smooth her transition into her new role with Heading Home. The transition was also helped by the fact that Mary was already familiar with Heading Home, having participated in several Heading Home events over the past few years.  

Looking ahead, Mary has exciting visions for what she hopes to do in her new role. “The first goal is to create a database of available local units for case managers,” Mary said. One lengthy part of housing individuals is the housing search and placement process, so Mary hopes that creating a central database will make this process much quicker. 

Mary also hopes to strengthen communication between landlords, property managers, case managers, and tenants by creating a central point of contact. “There is a big communication gap between property landlords and case managers,” she shared. Mary also explained how landlords and property managers are a huge part of reaching functional zero, so it is important that they are seen as allies. Functional zero is a milestone reached by a community when homelessness has effectively ended, and can be sustained.

For long-term goals, Mary hopes to implement a master lease program. Through this strategy, an agency can lease a set amount of units, allowing the agency to decide who the tenants are. This strategy can allow quick housing access and reduce stigmas that often serve as barriers for people exiting homelessness.

“The inability to stay housed is not what’s keeping people homeless, but rather it’s the stipulations to obtain housing that’s keeping people homeless”

Building long-term, positive landlord relationships will be crucial for allowing these visions to become reality. Mary understands the business realities landlords face and emphasizes the importance of acknowledging their perspective. “A lot of landlords feel like they have to be the bad guy,” she shared. “So helping them understand that you don’t feel that way is important.”

Mary is deeply passionate about her work and believes there is much that the wider community should better understand. One misconception she highlighted is the belief that people remain unhoused because they cannot maintain housing. In reality, Mary explained, many families have the capacity to pay for monthly rent, but they are denied because they can’t meet the upfront financial requirements. “The inability to stay housed is not what’s keeping people homeless, but rather it’s the stipulations to obtain housing that’s keeping people homeless,” Mary said. 

Outside of work, Mary finds joy in her family. She and her husband, Chris, coach lacrosse together at Edgewood High School, where they first met through coaching. Mary also loves to rollerblade on the B-Line or on neighborhood trails around her house, taking her two golden retrievers along with her. Mary shared that rollerblading used to be her main way of commuting to class when she attended Indiana University. 

Mary enjoys spending time outside, either hiking, doing yard work, or going on walks with her dogs and four-month old daughter, Ada.