WINTER 2024 The Gift of Being Home for the Holidays Q & A with our Evening & Weekend Manager Our President on Giving Support and Comfort, Hope and Love
NEWS
How You Can Support Us this Holiday Season Join Us for A Christmas Carol on December 18th
The Gift of Being Home for the Holidays
Q&A
JENNIFER GUZMAN
EVENING & WEEKEND MANAGER In 2019, Jennifer Guzman began volunteering in our Dining Room and Food Pantry. Soon after, she joined our staff fulltime working in the Food Pantry where she was quickly promoted to managing the busy and high-demand program. Over the past four years, she has overseen its tremendous growth, and in November, Jennifer took on a new role, becoming our first Evening and Weekend Manager. Your role has really evolved since you started here as a volunteer. Have you seen Rosie’s Place evolve, too? Yes, definitely! When I started working in the Food Pantry, we were serving about 100 women each day with guests coming through one-at-a-time to select their groceries. We were always busy. But then the pandemic hit and the need for the Pantry skyrocketed! The challenge was how to serve even more women while also keeping folks safe with social distancing. For a time, we distributed groceries in our parking lot. Now, we have reinvented our delivery model completely and tripled the Pantry’s capacity. Through our walk-up Pantry window on Harrison Avenue, every day we provide 350 women with fresh produce, meat, dairy, shelf-stable items, household essentials and even toiletries. What excites you about your new role as our Evening and Weekend Manager? For the Rosie’s Place community, I think it’s a really exciting time. As part of our strategic plan, we’re growing all our programs by 25%. We will extend our hours so that we’re open from 7:00am to 7:00pm every day of the week. Right now, I’m kind of our ambassador for this new schedule, spreading the word of our growth plans to both new and longtime guests, and figuring out ways we can add services to the evenings and weekends. Extending our days and hours of programming means women who are working during the day, in school or taking care of loved ones will have greater access to our help. Now, more women will be able to come in and connect with an Advocate, use our laundry room or a computer, or take a hot shower. I’m already seeing new faces, and I know we are only going to get busier. I’m really enjoying the opportunity to have conversations with guests beyond the Pantry window. What keeps you at Rosie’s Place? The mission. We are always growing and changing to better serve our community, and I love that. Being able to help our guests means the world to me.
Judy is no stranger to struggle. When her husband left her to raise their young daughter, Sarah, on her own, Judy made many sacrifices, making do on her one paycheck to make sure that Sarah had all that she needed. Without her parents or extended family nearby, Judy, who struggles with diabetes, relied on neighbors and friends for support during Sarah’s childhood. It was difficult and there were many challenges and setbacks over the years, but Judy managed to get by. For years, Judy’s health was stable and so was her job as an administrative assistant with a construction company. Sarah was on track to graduate from high school in two years and was looking forward to being the first in her family to go to college. And then the unthinkable happened. On her way to work one morning, Judy was in a car accident that left her hospitalized for weeks. Her injuries were severe, and her recovery was difficult. Out of work for two months, Judy returned to work part-time at first and was building her way back to full-time.
our Legal Advocates reached out to her landlord and negotiated a payment plan that would allow Judy and Sarah to stay in their apartment as Judy increased her hours at work. Judy told our team, “You all have been so incredibly kind to me. I never thought I would need to ask strangers for this much help. But you never made me feel judged or even like a stranger. I can’t thank you enough for being there for my daughter and me. You’ve given us our home back, and we are so grateful.” Today, Judy visits our Food Pantry weekly to help offset the high cost of groceries. And when she does, she often visits the nurses in our Wellness Center who help her monitor her sugar levels and navigate the many physical therapy appointments still needed for her full recovery from her accident.
This hardship was compounded when the landlord raised her rent and the family’s savings quickly dwindled.
Over the holidays, Rosie’s Place will be there again, to brighten the family’s celebrations with all the fixings for a holiday meal from our Food Pantry, holiday gifts, care packages and winter coats for mother and daughter.
Judy fell behind in her rent and was wracked with fear. Eviction seemed imminent. And then a neighbor told her about Rosie’s Place. She called our Advocacy Helpline and the very next day, came in to meet with one of our Advocates. Through our eviction prevention efforts, we were able to assist Judy with her back rent. Further,
Judy tells us she is feeling stronger every day and Sarah is thriving! Taking honors classes, working part-time and starting to look at colleges, the teen’s future is bright. Says Judy, “This year and every year after, we will be thankful for everyone at Rosie’s Place and all the love you have shown us.”
How We’re Keeping More Women Housed & Stable Rosie’s Place offers multiple pathways to help women achieve stability in their lives, from addressing rent and utility hardships to finding housing or to navigating our complicated legal system. Recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to poverty and homelessness, we support every woman who needs us for as long as she needs us. Our help is given with kindness and without conditions. Last year alone, our team of multi-lingual Advocates completed more than 30,000 visits with guests, both on-site and through our Advocacy Helpline, assisting them with rent and utility arrearages, accessing shelter, transportation needs or plans to achieve stable housing. With our help, 2,014 women and their children remained housed through our eviction prevention services, an increase of 24% from the previous year.
Over 12 months, the Housing Stabilization home-visiting program supported 58 newly housed women and women at risk of eviction through regular home visits and consistent contact with property owners and management companies, keeping 100% of these guests housed and healthy. Our team assisted with support services such as funding for back rent and utilities, furniture, referrals to behavioral health programs and housing court assistance. Through our Legal Program, we provide in-person and remote legal services in areas of family law, immigration, employment and housing. Working in partnership with Greater Boston Legal Services and Rian Immigrant Center, last year we assisted 1,100 guests.