From the Boston Herald: Boston’s St. Francis House celebrates Christmas, serves hundreds of festive feasts

Boston’s St. Francis House celebrates Christmas, serves hundreds of festive feasts
By Lance Reynolds from the Boston Herald
Published: December 25, 2023

A volunteer hands guests plates with holiday meals.

Nicole Raso and Kelly Devino look on as volunteer Greg Gailius brings them Christmas dinner at St. Francis House. (Chris Christo/Boston Herald)

In the back corner of a decorated dining room at St. Francis House, Jerrod Masucci sat down at a table with a plate full of food alongside his girlfriend and several other friends.

As Christmas songs played, with roughly 30 volunteers serving plates of stuffed chicken breast, butternut squash, mashed potatoes and string beans, Masucci said he felt like he was celebrating the holiday at home with a bunch of friends he views as family.

But at the same time, life has had its ups and downs for the 35-year-old homeless man who is seeking permanent housing.

Monday marked Masucci’s first Christmas spent at Boston’s largest day shelter in the past three years. Around 350 men and women experiencing hardship and homelessness joined him for the festive feast.

“When I came back here, it was like my family just grew,” Masucci told the Herald. “I feel at home, but I feel in a place where I need to gain (a) home. You know how they say, ‘Home is where the heart is.’ It is but at the same time, physically having a home is a great thing. It’s a blessing from God.”

Masucci’s girlfriend, Kelly Devino, 47, has been coming to St. Francis House every day since September. Here, she receives food, clothes, a place to shower and assistance in finding permanent housing, among other services.

This Christmas, Devino didn’t have the opportunity to spend the holiday with friends and family, but she said she still found a sense of joy.

“Being here for Christmas is just a blessing,” she said, smiling.

Those who are more fortunate take pride in spending the holiday giving back to the community by volunteering. So is the case for Greg Gailius, a Southie native who graduated from Boston College and worked nearly 40 years in the city’s business community before retiring.

Gailius came out to St. Francis House with his wife and daughter, a tradition they’ve shared together for years.

“I have been fortunate in life,” he said. “It just feels good to give back because Christmas is about giving. I am much better at giving than receiving.”

Karen LaFrazia, the shelter’s president and CEO, said she wouldn’t want to spend the holiday anywhere else. She bounced back and forth between the kitchen and dining room, seeing people she’s seen year after year while building connections with those she’s never met before.

It has been a challenging year at St. Francis House, LaFrazia said, as the shelter is serving the largest number of people per day than ever before, around 600 individuals. But like Masucci, she said she looks at each and every person needing assistance as family.

“It is our love for the guests,” LaFrazia said. “This is a lonely time of the year for many people. For us to be able to make the day special for somebody, and to just be in fellowship with them in a moment when they are at their lowest point, it is a blessing.”

Despite the tight housing market, Masucci said he’s entering the new year hopeful that he will secure a permanent living space at some point in 2024.

“Sometimes it takes patience,” he said, “and it takes a while, but that patience will help you endure that long time of waiting. I never have a doubting bone in my body. I have always kept it positive. I never think negatively because once you think negatively you could destroy all plans that are ahead of you.”

Karen LaFrazia, CEO of St. Francis House, at the Christmas feast on Monday. (Chris Christo/Boston Herald)

Original article in the Boston Herald: Boston’s St. Francis House celebrates Christmas, serves hundreds of festive feasts (bostonherald.com)

From the Boston Herald: Housing crisis leads to unprecedented number of people seeking help from Boston’s St. Francis House

Housing crisis leads to unprecedented number of people seeking help from Boston’s St. Francis House
By Lance Reynolds from the Boston Herald

Published: December 25, 2023

Karen Edelstein points out a table to Ed Crosby. Photo by Chris Christo/Boston Herald

Karen Edelstein points out a table to Ed Crosby that needs apple pies during the St. Francis House Christmas dinner. (Chris Christo/Boston Herald)

Nearly 600 people experiencing homelessness are turning out to St. Francis House every day seeking food, clothes, a place to shower, assistance in finding permanent housing and other resources.

The daily attendance count at Boston’s largest day homeless shelter is the largest it’s ever been as the cost of living and rent escalate while production of affordable housing lags behind, said Karen LaFrazia, St. Francis House’s president and CEO.

“Hundreds of people are flocking to St. Francis House because one: we are kind and welcoming, and we don’t turn anyone away. But beyond the food, beyond the clothes, people can really find a pathway out,” she told the Herald, as she found downtime during a festive annual Christmas lunch on Monday.

St. Francis House, in the heart of downtown Boston, saw an astounding 50% increase in newcomers in the first quarter of this fiscal year compared to the same period last year, LaFrazia said. For the past five months, through November, the daily average went up by 23%, she added.

“It is so crowded inside this building,” LaFrazia said. “In this back room, literally you have to step over people. In the upstairs room, there are no chairs. … In the morning, we open at 6:30, there’s already a line of people waiting to come in.”

Daily challenges at the shelter have coincided with a 17.2% increase in the number of homeless people in the city, from 4,439 people in 2022 to 5,202 people in 2023, according to Boston’s 43rd annual unsheltered homeless street count.

“However, when comparing the years 2015 and 2023, overall homelessness in Boston has actually decreased by 32 percent,” the count found during a one-night effort last January.

Officials found a “massive influx of migrant families entering Massachusetts and seeking shelter at hospitals and other emergency access points” had led to a 17.5% increase in the number of persons in homeless families, from 2,894 in 2023 to 3,399 in 2023.

“If people had their own apartments,” LaFrazia said, “they could cook for themselves, they could do their own laundry. … The most important intervention to help somebody move beyond homelessness is to give them an affordable place to live.”

St. Francis House has completed financing and selected a contractor for a 19-story, 126-unit affordable housing building on Lagrange Street, at the crossroads of Chinatown and Downtown Crossing, by late spring. LaFrazia said she expects the project to break ground by late spring.

LaFrazia credited Gov. Maura Healey and the state Legislature for doing an “amazing job” trying to create financial resources to support affordable housing production.

The Healey administration in October released a $4 billion bond bill aimed at spurring housing production and boosting affordable home ownership in a state starved for inexpensive options.

Healey proposed a real estate transaction fee of 0.5% to 2% on the portion of a property sale over $1 million, or the county median home sale price, with the revenue generated from the fee directed to affordable housing development. The bill also includes $425 million directed to a housing stabilization and investment fund.

“More needs to be done,” LaFrazia said, “but the ability to create affordable housing is a complex process so political leadership to create more expediency in that process (is essential).”

Original article in the Boston Herald: Housing crisis leads to unprecedented number of people seeking help from Boston’s St. Francis House (bostonherald.com)