Innsider
Innsider
Josh O'Brien – Senior Director of Emergency Shelters
Spring Edition | April 2024 | As Pine Street's senior director of emergency shelters, Josh O'Brien works to meet the needs of our guests across four shelters. After almost 30 years of providing services to those experiencing homelessness, Josh aims to make an impact one day at a time.
Johnnisha “JoJo” Willis – Using Life Lessons to Help Others
Winter Edition | March 2024 | For Women's History Month, we highlight Johnnisha “JoJo” Willis. JoJo is a supervisor at Yawkey House, Pine Street Inn’s shelter for women. She is dedicated to helping homeless individuals, drawing on a deep well of empathy from having personally experienced homelessness.
Tara Snider – Director of the Men’s Inn Shelter
Winter Edition | March 2024 | For International Women's Day, we highlight Tara Snider. Tara has been with Pine Street Inn for seven years. While she has held various positions, Tara is currently the director of the Men’s Inn shelter and works to improve our guests’ experience.
Women's History Month
Winter Edition | March 2024 | Women’s History Month is a celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture and society in the United States. In 1981, Congress passed a resolution establishing a national Women’s History Week. Six years later, the National Women’s History Alliance successfully petitioned Congress to expand that event to the entire month of March.
Black History Month
Winter Edition | January 2024 | Black History Month was unofficially started in 1915, 50 years after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. That year, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History was founded to research and promote the achievement of Black Americans and other people of African descent.
Women’s Inn renamed “Yawkey House”
Winter Edition | January 2024 | On Jean Yawkey's 115th birthday, we celebrated the Yawkey Foundation’s $15 million gift to Pine Street Inn with the dedication of our women’s shelter to "Yawkey House.”
The Ninety Nine Restaurants' Annual Have a Heart Fundraiser
Winter Edition | January 2024 | We are thrilled to partner again this year with 99 Restaurants for their annual Have a Heart fundraiser. From February 5 through February 11, 2024, 48 locations in eastern Massachusetts and Salem, NH, are raising funds for Pine Street Inn.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Winter Edition | January 2024 | Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed on the third Monday of January each year to honor one of the most important leaders in U.S. history.
Tina Cheek — Resource Center Supervisor, OPHP
Winter Edition | December 2023 | Tina Cheek is the Resource Center Supervisor at Pine Street’s Rapid Engagement Center. Tina supervises a staff of six, who are dedicated to ensuring that shelter guests have access to resources such as phones, computers and staff who can assist them in finding a job and housing.
Season of Celebration
Fall Edition | November 2023 | Pine Street Inn is expanding the number of holidays that we observe during November and December as we acknowledge and celebrate the diversity of our guests and staff.
Annmarie Smith — You Can’t Give Up, and Neither Will We
Fall Edition | October 2023 | Annmarie began her Pine Street Inn career sixteen years ago working on the facilities team. Her commitment to helping others led her to become a residential counselor in shelter and then a case manager at a permanent supportive housing site for formerly homeless women.
Will Ayala — Compliance, Property Management
Fall Edition | October 2023 | Helping us celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month is a member of our Pine Street Inn team. Will, a Boston native, has family ties to both Puerto Rico and Spain. Growing up, Will lived in tight-knit communities in Dorchester and the South End that were a melting pot of people from Puerto Rico, Cape Verde and more.
Hispanic Heritage Month
Fall Edition | September 2023 | Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates and honors the history and culture of the Hispanic and Latino/Latina/Latinx communities.
Mominul Islam — Making a Difference Through Data
Fall Edition | September 2023 | Mominul Islam is a data analyst with Pine Street’s Department of Program Evaluation. In his role here, Mominul works to tell the story of Pine Street through data, while improving processes to ensure that the organization has solid data for the most accurate reporting.
Katelyn Anderson
Spring Edition | August 2023 | Katelyn Anderson, Pine Street Inn’s director of men's stabilization and the MATCH program, has always had a passion for working with the most vulnerable populations.
Incorporating Metabolic Risk Factor Education into iCater
Spring Edition | August 2023 | Metabolic syndrome is when three or more risk factors co-occur. The combination of hypertension, high blood glucose, abnormal cholesterol/triglyceride levels and obesity can result in the increased risk of heart disease, Type II diabetes, stroke, and death.
MassHealth Redetermination Helps Pine Street Guests Stay Covered
Spring Edition | July 2023 | As COVID-era automatic renewals for MassHealth end, thousands of people across Massachusetts are at risk of losing their health care coverage. As a response, Pine Street launched the MassHealth Redetermination Campaign to assist people in retaining coverage.
Betul Gaffari
Spring Edition | June 2023 | Originally from Istanbul, Turkey, Betul Gaffari (she/her) came to Boston to attend Boston College. She learned about Pine Street Inn through BC’s Pulse program, which teaches students about social justice, by having them fulfill a volunteer service requirement.
Tai — “I’m a connector. That’s my gift.”
Spring Edition | June 2023 | Tai Irwin, one of Pine Street Inn’s employment and stabilization specialists, is a member of the team placing our workforce development trainees in jobs following their graduation.
Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month
Spring Edition | May 2023 | Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month is observed in the United States during the month of May, and recognizes the contributions and influence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the community in the United States.
Joanne James — A Light in a Dark Place
Winter Edition | March 2023 | Joanne James has been with Pine Street Inn since 2016, working in various roles, including with the Triage team that works to prevent people from becoming homeless. Joanne is currently the director of Yawkey House, where she works to build a team that focuses on making the lives of our guests better.
Claire Peterson – Moving People from the Streets to a Home
Winter Edition | March 2023 | Claire Peterson, LCSW, is an outreach clinician with Pine Street Inn’s . Now in her second year with Pine Street, Claire has found her calling.
Allie Cantaffa: WFD Employment & Stabilization Specialist
Winter Edition | February 2023 | Allie is the definition of a “team player.” As a Workforce Development job placement specialist, Allie works with our food service and housekeeping trainees to help them find employment following completion of the training program.
Celebrating Kwanzaa
Winter Edition | December 2022 | The PSI People of Color Coalition (POCC) Committee is committed to promoting diversity and acceptance of People of Color within the organization through education and by sharing our experiences with our peers. As a result, we would like to take this opportunity to share the history of Kwanzaa.
A Conversation with Wayne Thomas
Winter Edition | December 2022 | Wayne Tomas has worked as the morning Men’s Inn supervisor for the past three years — anyone walking through the front doors can tell that his positive energy is contagious. “I enjoy interacting with the guests and being hands-on. The more I see someone who is feeling down, the more I want to build them back up.”
Everybody Has a Story
Fall Edition | November 2022 | Every person here — our guests, tenants, staff, donors and volunteers — has a story of how Pine Street Inn has touched their lives. We hope you enjoy learning about just a few of these stories.
Leo Adorno
Fall Edition | September 2022 | Leo Adorno, director of housing placement for Pine Street’s “Place Me Home” program, has been a part of the Pine Street Inn team for 29 years, working in roles numerous roles throughout the organization.
August is Black Business Month
Spring Edition | August 2022 | August is a time to acknowledge and celebrate the more than 3 million Black-owned businesses across the country and their important contribution to innovation, entrepreneurship, diversity and the economy.
Juneteenth
Spring Edition | June 2022 | This year marks the second anniversary of the Juneteenth holiday in the US. Juneteenth commemorates the June 19, 1865 proclamation of freedom for the enslaved people in Texas which was the last state of the Confederacy with slavery. While Juneteenth is considered the "longest-running African-American holiday” and has been called "America's second Independence Day,” it wasn’t recognized as a federal holiday until 2021.
Eric Runs Again for Pine Street Inn!
Fall Edition | October 2021 | Eric has been a monthly donor - an Innkeeper - for about three years now. Last year, Eric was part of our Boston Marathon team, and ran a marathon distance during the BAA's 'marathon week' which was virtual due to the global pandemic. This year, he is lacing up his sneakers again for Pine Street Inn to complete all 26.2 miles on the historic Boston Marathon course. "I’m proud to be running to support Pine Street Inn and its Boston’s Way Home Fund, which will be used to create 200 new units of housing for chronically homeless men and women in the Boston area.”
David is running a seventh time for Pine Street Inn!
Fall Edition | October 2021 | Whenever I've volunteered, I've been impressed how dedicated and professional everyone is. There is tremendous pride in their work, and I'm proud to run 26.2 miles this year in honor of Pine Street.”