November 24, 2024 • 11 mins
Since the 1980's, demand has been growing for the comprehensive assistance that Women's Lunch Place on Newbury Street in Boston offers women experiencing homelessness. As more and more women find themselves without a place to call home, the day shelter opens its doors to offer a warm meal, clean clothes, a fresh shower, and much more. They're now asking for help to get some critical repairs done so they can keep offering this help for decades more. CEO Jennifer Hanlon Wigon joins Nichole on the show this week to talk about their mission and need.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each week we come together right here, we talk about
all the topics important to you and the place where
you live. It is so good to be back with
you again this week. I'm Nicole Davis. If I were
to tell you that Women's Lunch Place in Boston is
seeing higher demand than ever, you might be wondering if
it's a trendy restaurant. It is actually not a restaurant,
(00:30):
but it's a day shelter that's been around for decades
helping women experiencing homelessness. Last year alone, the shelter on
Newberry Street, which is of course right in the middle
of one of Boston's ritziest neighborhoods, provided thousands of warm meals,
did thousands of loads of laundry, gave women who needed
it a place to clean up and rest, even if
just for a few hours. Over the years, though infrastructure,
(00:51):
as it does, breaks down, chairs snap and pipes, burst
washers need to be repaired, so on and so forth,
the team at Women's Lunch Place says, now they need
your help to keep this going before we get into
the winter months. The CEO of Women's lunch places here.
Jennifer Hanlin Wigan, Jennifer, thank you so so much. So
let's start off with a quick history of the shelter.
(01:11):
Of course, it's been around for a while, but for
people who don't know, tell us about the work you do.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Sure, so, Women's Lunch Place was founded in nineteen eighty two.
Two women in their twenties established us in the basement
of the Church of the Covenant where we still operate today,
in the heart of the back Bay. And really they
noted that there were no day shelters for women and
(01:36):
no special services for the unique needs of women, and
they wanted to try to fill that need. So it
began began with lunch for about eight women that joined them.
They served Chile that first day, and eventually over time
added more days, added breakfast service, started to add more
services to support women on their journey out of homelessness,
(01:59):
and today, you know, we serve over twenty two hundred
women a year. Recently we're serving about five hundred meals
a day breakfast, lunch and take away dinner and a
full robust you know, services for women in terms of
housing and benefits and wellness and clinical services that we've
added more recently.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, how have you found over the years that the
needs for unhoused women or women in need have changed
as opposed to providers who normally just work with the
overall homeless population.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, you know, what we have found recently in recent
years is that the guest population is changing a lot
over time. So over the past couple of years, but
forty percent of our guests are new to Women's Lunch Place.
When I first was associated with Women's Length Place over
a decade ago, it was much a much more steady
population of women. So it's a challenge to create community,
(02:50):
you know, with that much change. And that's a lot
of the work that our direct care stuff does is
really about reaching out to women, developing trusting relationships. That's
really the start of hopefully a successful journey. We do
know that we have more older women entering homelessness, which
(03:11):
is very concerning many older women for the for the
first time, you know, never never faced homelessness. But you know,
they they've been living in the same place for decades
and suddenly it's you know, turns over and the rent
is tripled and and they don't have a buffer of
savings for that and we we have younger women entering
that are most often being trafficked in the commercial sex
(03:36):
trade or and or have substance use disorders. So in
mental health, you know, it's just a concern across the
board in our larger society, and certainly for women who
are experiencing the traumas that lead to homelessness or the
traumas that they experience in homelessness.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
These are pretty pervasive problems. What sort of solution are
you seeing out there to try to turn these trends around?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, So I always say that it was never the
purview of day shelters to provide you know, mental health,
behavioral health services, but it became necessary that we do.
So we couldn't ignore, you know, the issues that we
saw in front of us, and so we started building
really a whole clinical program, starting with the clinical intern program,
and now having resources like a psychiatrist who actually is
(04:26):
our one of our founders, Eileen Riley, who after founding
Women's Lunch Plays, went back to medical school to become
a psychiatrist and has worked with this population, you know,
for her entire career. We have a psychiatric nurse practitioner
who can prescribe and works with our healthcare partner, Boston
Healthcare for the Homeless program in following up on patients.
(04:50):
We have our own clinician who can do therapy with
our guests each day. So really building on the the
strengths we already had in terms of of our outreach
and our you know, really just meeting women exactly where
they're at and non judgmental and always you know, centering
(05:11):
their dignity, but now adding more and more staff that
are licensed social workers, have degrees in you know, masters
public health. Really focusing on the on the expertise that
we can bring while always holding to our guest centered,
multifaceted service model.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
You know, it sounds like you have a lot of demand.
Obviously you're right there on Newberry Street. You have a
lot of people coming in and out, and you're there
for the community, which is incredible. But what kind of
impact is this bigger demand having not just done your
staff but also your facility.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Well, I will say that we are we are kind
of busting at the sea. It was in terms of
providing you know, adequate space for our advocates to work
with work with our with our guests and you know,
very personal conversations, but where we're managing to kind of
hotel space, et cetera. We we know that our work
(06:04):
is often out in the communities as well. We have
a housing stabilization program, so our advocates are off and out,
you know, meeting, meeting with guests. You know, we have
a very high success rate keeping about ninety seven percent
of the women we have housed. People don't understand how
difficult that transition is from homelessness to housed and the
(06:24):
isolation that that folks experience. And so we you know,
we we don't do all our work at the shelter,
although we certainly do the bulk of it.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I saw on social media that you need some repairs
done to the shelter and the facility, what's going on there.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
You know, I think people don't understand the complexities of
running running a day shelter. And I think people think
about the fact that we, you know, have have a
dining room and we serve meals. But some of the
critical services we provide, like laundry. You know, if if
you're at home and your you're washer or a dryer, brakes,
(06:59):
you can probably get by for for a few days.
Ours run all day long, and it's a critical really
survival service for our guests. So we you know, it's
not just a small, little little blip when something like
that breaks, it's a it really is a substantial impact
for our guests, and we just wanted to make sure
(07:19):
that we were, you know, building reserve for upgrades for
unexpected you know, emergencies that can that can result from
the really heavy use of the shelter facilities. So you know,
I know you just discussed you know, some of them,
but you know, chairs break and and and refrigerators can
(07:41):
can can go down, and we just want to be
able to be able to respond really really quickly when
when this does happen.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Well sure, and I'm sure that with the cold weather
coming into you're going to have even more demand right now.
So making sure you have furniture that's steady and you know,
appliances that work. Like you said, it's stuff that we
take for granted almost in our homes, but we have
to make sure that you can get everything up and
running before probably one of the busier seasons of your year.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Exactly. Yeah, I will say we used to think, you know,
experience kind of ups and downs in the level of population.
The beginning of the month would be slower, the end
of the month would be busier as benefit checks we're
running sand in terms of what people could afford. It's
just pretty steady now. The summer was very steady. Heat
(08:28):
is as much an issue now as cold in the winter.
So we are concerned with the numbers increasing, but it's
been pretty steady and we're just trying to keep strong,
keep well staffed, and be able to address those needs
as we enter this winter season.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Well, let's find out what we can do to help.
So I'm sure obviously money is important. It makes the
world go around, and it helps you do what you
can do. How can people give to you if they
want to just donate or they have a business that
they want to help out with, how can they do
that for you?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Thank you so much. Yes, we we have a website,
Women's Lunch Place dot org that they can find donation
information on and they could reach out also to our
volunteer and corporate relations manager, Allegra Mara at Allegra at
Women's Lunchplace dot org. Uh. And of course you know
(09:21):
come by and see us on on Newberry Street anytime,
you know, we we welcome people to come in and
actually see our facility in operation and see what a
beautiful welcoming uh, safe space we provide to really vulnerable women.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
And what about if somebody wants to donate clothing or
donate towels or whatever, do you need those as well?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah, so we really don't have the capacity to accept
clothing donations. There are other great organizations that can. We
do accept in the winter clean and gently used heavy
winter coats, especially in larger sizes. Uh. And the same
for for boots because those are just really really needed
(10:01):
and we create space to be able to provide those
for our guests.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Okay, and I see there's a list on your website
too of items you really do need urgently, and it
also lets out what people can't donate, So that's good.
It helps them no before they show up with a
giant laundry basket full of clothes that maybe this is
not the best way to go about this. And so
social media and also the website, how can people keep
in touch with you and know what's going on in
(10:28):
your world.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Yeah, like I said, please please do visit our website.
There's lots of resources and information about connecting with us there.
That's Women's Lunchplace dot org, and friend us on all
the social media channels and alerts so that you can
see the good work that's being done every day by
a tremendous staff at Women's Lunch Place.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
All right, Jennifer, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Thank you, Nicole.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join me again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each week we come together right here, we talk about
all the topics important to you and the place where
you live. It is so good to be back with
you again this week. I'm Nicole Davis. If I were
to tell you that Women's Lunch Place in Boston is
seeing higher demand than ever, you might be wondering if
it's a trendy restaurant. It is actually not a restaurant,
(00:30):
but it's a day shelter that's been around for decades
helping women experiencing homelessness. Last year alone, the shelter on
Newberry Street, which is of course right in the middle
of one of Boston's ritziest neighborhoods, provided thousands of warm meals,
did thousands of loads of laundry, gave women who needed
it a place to clean up and rest, even if
just for a few hours. Over the years, though infrastructure,
(00:51):
as it does, breaks down, chairs snap and pipes, burst
washers need to be repaired, so on and so forth,
the team at Women's Lunch Place says, now they need
your help to keep this going before we get into
the winter months. The CEO of Women's lunch places here.
Jennifer Hanlin Wigan, Jennifer, thank you so so much. So
let's start off with a quick history of the shelter.
(01:11):
Of course, it's been around for a while, but for
people who don't know, tell us about the work you do.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Sure, so, Women's Lunch Place was founded in nineteen eighty two.
Two women in their twenties established us in the basement
of the Church of the Covenant where we still operate today,
in the heart of the back Bay. And really they
noted that there were no day shelters for women and
(01:36):
no special services for the unique needs of women, and
they wanted to try to fill that need. So it
began began with lunch for about eight women that joined them.
They served Chile that first day, and eventually over time
added more days, added breakfast service, started to add more
services to support women on their journey out of homelessness,
(01:59):
and today, you know, we serve over twenty two hundred
women a year. Recently we're serving about five hundred meals
a day breakfast, lunch and take away dinner and a
full robust you know, services for women in terms of
housing and benefits and wellness and clinical services that we've
added more recently.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, how have you found over the years that the
needs for unhoused women or women in need have changed
as opposed to providers who normally just work with the
overall homeless population.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, you know, what we have found recently in recent
years is that the guest population is changing a lot
over time. So over the past couple of years, but
forty percent of our guests are new to Women's Lunch Place.
When I first was associated with Women's Length Place over
a decade ago, it was much a much more steady
population of women. So it's a challenge to create community,
(02:50):
you know, with that much change. And that's a lot
of the work that our direct care stuff does is
really about reaching out to women, developing trusting relationships. That's
really the start of hopefully a successful journey. We do
know that we have more older women entering homelessness, which
(03:11):
is very concerning many older women for the for the
first time, you know, never never faced homelessness. But you know,
they they've been living in the same place for decades
and suddenly it's you know, turns over and the rent
is tripled and and they don't have a buffer of
savings for that and we we have younger women entering
that are most often being trafficked in the commercial sex
(03:36):
trade or and or have substance use disorders. So in
mental health, you know, it's just a concern across the
board in our larger society, and certainly for women who
are experiencing the traumas that lead to homelessness or the
traumas that they experience in homelessness.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
These are pretty pervasive problems. What sort of solution are
you seeing out there to try to turn these trends around?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, So I always say that it was never the
purview of day shelters to provide you know, mental health,
behavioral health services, but it became necessary that we do.
So we couldn't ignore, you know, the issues that we
saw in front of us, and so we started building
really a whole clinical program, starting with the clinical intern program,
and now having resources like a psychiatrist who actually is
(04:26):
our one of our founders, Eileen Riley, who after founding
Women's Lunch Plays, went back to medical school to become
a psychiatrist and has worked with this population, you know,
for her entire career. We have a psychiatric nurse practitioner
who can prescribe and works with our healthcare partner, Boston
Healthcare for the Homeless program in following up on patients.
(04:50):
We have our own clinician who can do therapy with
our guests each day. So really building on the the
strengths we already had in terms of of our outreach
and our you know, really just meeting women exactly where
they're at and non judgmental and always you know, centering
(05:11):
their dignity, but now adding more and more staff that
are licensed social workers, have degrees in you know, masters
public health. Really focusing on the on the expertise that
we can bring while always holding to our guest centered,
multifaceted service model.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
You know, it sounds like you have a lot of demand.
Obviously you're right there on Newberry Street. You have a
lot of people coming in and out, and you're there
for the community, which is incredible. But what kind of
impact is this bigger demand having not just done your
staff but also your facility.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Well, I will say that we are we are kind
of busting at the sea. It was in terms of
providing you know, adequate space for our advocates to work
with work with our with our guests and you know,
very personal conversations, but where we're managing to kind of
hotel space, et cetera. We we know that our work
(06:04):
is often out in the communities as well. We have
a housing stabilization program, so our advocates are off and out,
you know, meeting, meeting with guests. You know, we have
a very high success rate keeping about ninety seven percent
of the women we have housed. People don't understand how
difficult that transition is from homelessness to housed and the
(06:24):
isolation that that folks experience. And so we you know,
we we don't do all our work at the shelter,
although we certainly do the bulk of it.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I saw on social media that you need some repairs
done to the shelter and the facility, what's going on there.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
You know, I think people don't understand the complexities of
running running a day shelter. And I think people think
about the fact that we, you know, have have a
dining room and we serve meals. But some of the
critical services we provide, like laundry. You know, if if
you're at home and your you're washer or a dryer, brakes,
(06:59):
you can probably get by for for a few days.
Ours run all day long, and it's a critical really
survival service for our guests. So we you know, it's
not just a small, little little blip when something like
that breaks, it's a it really is a substantial impact
for our guests, and we just wanted to make sure
(07:19):
that we were, you know, building reserve for upgrades for
unexpected you know, emergencies that can that can result from
the really heavy use of the shelter facilities. So you know,
I know you just discussed you know, some of them,
but you know, chairs break and and and refrigerators can
(07:41):
can can go down, and we just want to be
able to be able to respond really really quickly when
when this does happen.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Well sure, and I'm sure that with the cold weather
coming into you're going to have even more demand right now.
So making sure you have furniture that's steady and you know,
appliances that work. Like you said, it's stuff that we
take for granted almost in our homes, but we have
to make sure that you can get everything up and
running before probably one of the busier seasons of your year.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Exactly. Yeah, I will say we used to think, you know,
experience kind of ups and downs in the level of population.
The beginning of the month would be slower, the end
of the month would be busier as benefit checks we're
running sand in terms of what people could afford. It's
just pretty steady now. The summer was very steady. Heat
(08:28):
is as much an issue now as cold in the winter.
So we are concerned with the numbers increasing, but it's
been pretty steady and we're just trying to keep strong,
keep well staffed, and be able to address those needs
as we enter this winter season.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Well, let's find out what we can do to help.
So I'm sure obviously money is important. It makes the
world go around, and it helps you do what you
can do. How can people give to you if they
want to just donate or they have a business that
they want to help out with, how can they do
that for you?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Thank you so much. Yes, we we have a website,
Women's Lunch Place dot org that they can find donation
information on and they could reach out also to our
volunteer and corporate relations manager, Allegra Mara at Allegra at
Women's Lunchplace dot org. Uh. And of course you know
(09:21):
come by and see us on on Newberry Street anytime,
you know, we we welcome people to come in and
actually see our facility in operation and see what a
beautiful welcoming uh, safe space we provide to really vulnerable women.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
And what about if somebody wants to donate clothing or
donate towels or whatever, do you need those as well?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah, so we really don't have the capacity to accept
clothing donations. There are other great organizations that can. We
do accept in the winter clean and gently used heavy
winter coats, especially in larger sizes. Uh. And the same
for for boots because those are just really really needed
(10:01):
and we create space to be able to provide those
for our guests.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Okay, and I see there's a list on your website
too of items you really do need urgently, and it
also lets out what people can't donate, So that's good.
It helps them no before they show up with a
giant laundry basket full of clothes that maybe this is
not the best way to go about this. And so
social media and also the website, how can people keep
in touch with you and know what's going on in
(10:28):
your world.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Yeah, like I said, please please do visit our website.
There's lots of resources and information about connecting with us there.
That's Women's Lunchplace dot org, and friend us on all
the social media channels and alerts so that you can
see the good work that's being done every day by
a tremendous staff at Women's Lunch Place.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
All right, Jennifer, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Thank you, Nicole.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join me again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
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