From the
President
Fifty years ago, our founders realized there was a need for a safe place for those who had no place to go. Homelessness was a growing problem in Boston, and a group of activist priests, known as the Boston Urban Priests, decided something had to be done. Although they had no experience with this issue, they took it on anyway. That was the beginning of Pine Street Inn, founded in an old building on Pine Street in Chinatown. Two hundred men suffering from alcoholism were provided with “a hot and a cot” – a meal and a place to sleep – for the night. The next morning they were back out on the street, with no long-term plan. Over the years, the thinking around homelessness and how to solve it has evolved. Today we know that moving men and women off the streets, out of shelter, and into a home with staff to support them in reconnecting with the community, works. We have seen this over and over.
Now we are putting our focus on preventing homelessness in the first place. In our page 1 story on our Front-Door Triage program, we literally meet individuals as they show up at our door for the first time, and assess them to determine if we can quickly reconnect them with a family member or friend. The goal is to prevent someone from spending even one night in shelter, and this program has shown great promise. “Now we are putting our focus on preventing homelessness in the first place.” Many factors can contribute to homelessness: loss of a job, mental illness, addiction, trauma. While we cannot prevent all of these causes, our increased focus on prevention and making shelter stays as brief as possible is having an impact. With your generous support, we will continue to make progress on this critical issue. On behalf of everyone at Pine Street Inn, please accept my deepest gratitude for all you do. With gratitude,
(Pathways Out of Homelessness, continued from page 1)
“This innovative program is transforming the way we address homelessness,” said Angela Giordano, who directs the Front-Door Triage program. “When a guest walks in the door, we work to get them on a pathway out of homelessness as quickly as possible. We believe shelter should be temporary, and our goal is to prevent chronic homelessness before it sets in.” Michael’s story illustrates how the program works: He arrived at our Men’s Inn in an agitated state because he had stopped taking his medication. The Triage staff immediately intervened and helped him obtain medication. The next day, when he was more stable, staff learned that Michael was close with
his sister and had his own apartment. A Triage team member reached his sister while she was filing a missing person report at the local police station. She was very relieved to learn her brother was safe and agreed to help him seek more intensive psychiatric treatment. In the past year, Front-Door Triage served 2,861 new shelter guests. Among them, 21% were able to return to housing within 30 days, often through family reunification. Many were able to avoid spending even a single night in shelter. Thanks to the partnerships with government funders and private donors, the program continues to grow and thrive.
Pine Street Inn was thrilled to recently receive a Cummings Foundation $100k for 100 grant to help expand Front-Door Triage. We deeply appreciate this partnership!
(A Voice from the Early Days: Mary Johnson, continued from page 1)
It’s hard to get veterans to talk about what’s going on in their life. We had to make sure that they were getting the services and benefits they were entitled to and eliminate any barrier keeping them out of housing. We’ve had Vietnam vets, Iraqi vets. We’ve had every veteran possible here. We have vets who have physical injuries, missing limbs and are in wheelchairs. One of my brothers was a Vietnam vet and was affected by his experience. I just remembered the support of my family and how he got through it, and I use that in my approach in my work. [2]
