Around the country, and around St. Francis House, June is Pride month – a time to celebrate all members of the LGBTQ+ communities. Why June? The 1950’s and early 1960’s saw the emergence of what was to become the gay rights movement. Back then, if you were gay or transgender, you were likely living a […]
We do a lot of celebrating at St. Francis House. We celebrate the graduates of our Moving Ahead Program. We celebrate when our guests achieve sobriety. We celebrate when guests find housing, when they find a good job, when they reconnect with family and friends they’ve been estranged from. For us, there are few things […]
In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests, and with growing awareness of events in American History like the Tulsa Race Massacre, St. Francis House has decided to add Juneteenth to its list of paid holidays. We aren’t alone. Across Boston and across the country, a growing number […]
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Here at Saint Francis House, mental health issues are something that we are continuously aware of, as so many of our guests struggle with mental health disorders. Almost all our guests are coping with some type of trauma. It may be focused trauma stemming from an incident, such as […]
The concept of harm reduction has been around for a long while. The philosophy behind the concept is simple. Rather than use a judgmental and punitive approach to harmful behaviors, those who follow this philosophy take a practical approach that keeps people from hurting themselves (and others) – and, hopefully, results in healthier behavior over […]
This past year has been tough on everyone. The pandemic has disrupted all of our lives, and for some of us, has resulted in the grave illness or death of those we hold dear. It’s been an especially difficult year for members of minority communities. While much of the focus of concern has been on […]
Welcome to the St. Francis House Board of Directors Damon! Damon Harrell is the newest member of the St. Francis House Board of Directors. We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Damon – via Zoom, of course – so we could all get to know him better. Could you share a bit about […]
A crucial part of our mission here at St. Francis House is helping our guests find work. But for many of our guests, working – whether full or part-time – is just not possible. They may have chronic health conditions or disabilities that make working too difficult. They may be at a point in their […]
March is Women’s History Month! In addition, for more than 100 years, International Women’s Day has been celebrated on March 8th. To celebrate this day, we thought we’d talk about the work we do week in, week out with the women who come through our doors. Named for long-time St. Francis House supporter Carolyn Connors, […]
Last fall, the City of Boston asked St. Francis House if we could run an overnight shelter for them. With winter just around the corner, there was heightened concern about an influx of people who’d been sleeping outside when the weather was tolerable, but who would now be looking for a place to stay the […]
