WINTER 2012 A Place for Everyone Priscilla’s Story From Our Executive Director The Chilling Costs of Winter Q & A with Volunteer Deb Pasculano Funny Women...Serious Business Ways to Give
Priscilla’s Story Priscilla is a single mother who lives with her 12-year old daughter in a modest, yet comfortable apartment in Boston. She works two jobs to pay her bills. It is tiring, but she is thankful for the work, remembering how it was not so long ago. In 2008 Priscilla lost her job and her car and could not afford to pay her rent. With nowhere to turn, she and her daughter found themselves homeless. She turned to Rosie’s Place for assistance with meals and met with our advocates to get back on her feet. She and her daughter lived in family shelters until 2011 when she was approved for Section 8 housing. When she moved into her apartment, Rosie’s Place provided Priscilla with furniture, making sure she had all of the comforts of home. She and her daughter moved into their new home shortly before Christmas. Priscilla wanted to make the holiday special for her daughter, but could barely make ends meet and had no money for toys. She again turned to Rosie’s Place. Priscilla “shopped” at the Rosie’s Place Toy Store for her daughter’s Christmas gifts. She was able to select gifts that she knew her daughter would love and was excited to put the presents under the tree for Christmas morning. That Christmas was the best Priscilla and her daughter ever had. Priscilla is very proud of how far she has come. She refers others to Rosie’s Place telling them that they can change their situation if they have hope and if they believe in themselves.
A Place for Everyone: Holidays at Rosie’s Place For some, holidays mean a special meal. Others think of decorating the house, singing songs and welcoming friends and family. And for some, the holidays are all about the twinkle in a child’s eye when he opens that special gift. At Rosie’s Place, the holidays are all of these things and more. According to Ruth McDonough, Dining Room Manager, “Our guests want the same things that we do. And we try our best to give it to them. We want to make sure everyone enjoys the holidays. Everyone should have a roof over their heads—good food in their bellies—and be among friends. No one should be alone on the holidays.” On Thanksgiving and Christmas, our Dining Room is open all day, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner to more than 350 women and children. Decorated for the season, the Dining Room fills with music, conversation and laughter. Staff spend days cooking more than 12 turkeys and all the fixings and a crew of more than 40 volunteers assist in serving meals. Each year, the women delight in the day’s special menu. Lady, a guest who has taken part in several holiday celebrations, described them this way, “The food is exceptionally good. Everyone looks forward to it. By dinner we’re all stuffed but we make room! People are up and dancing—a good time is had by all.” Over the holidays, the 20 women staying in Rosie’s Place’s Overnight Shelter are given extensions, ensuring that they are safe, warm and in good company during these days that can be so daunting when spent alone. Debbie Conway, Manager of our Overnight Shelter said, “Holidays are really hard for our guests who don’t have a place to go or don’t have family to spend it with. We try to make it like a home up here. We get a tree. We decorate. We make it festive! The guests really look forward to the food, the activities and the little gifts we give them.”
“Our guests want the same things that we do. And we try our best to give it to them. We want to make sure everyone enjoys the holidays. Everyone should have a roof over their heads—good food in their bellies—and be among friends. No one should be alone on the holidays.” For poor and homeless mothers—the holidays are often another reminder of what they can’t afford to give their children. That’s where Rosie’s Place can help. Every December, 150 mothers come and shop in our Toy Store. Here, guests don’t receive pre-packaged and prewrapped gifts chosen by someone who has never met their child. Instead, mothers enjoy finding the gift that their child has been asking for all year or discovering a puzzle, toy or kit that they know he or she will love. Erin Miller, our Director of Advocacy, says that mothers really appreciate this very rare opportunity to shop for their children. “The Toy Store gives guests a sense of normalcy. It lets them personalize the gifts. And when they wrap them up and write out the tags, no one will ever have to know they came from an organization.” Each holiday season, Rosie’s Place strives to give poor and homeless women and their children, something everyone wants and deserves—days to look forward to and remember fondly.