Saint Francis House (Boston)
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Saint Francis House is a nonprofit, nonsectarian, ecumenical daytime shelter, primarily for the homeless, located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, and founded in the early 1980s. It is the largest daytime shelter in New England and serves as an early model of such a center.
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[edit] Mission
Its mission had been stated early on as:
"We believe in the dignity of every human being and offer respect to all who enter the house. Our mission is to care for those who cannot take care of themselves, and to assist those who are capable of becoming self-reliant and fully functioning members of society." [1]
It serves and helps poor and homeless people in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi who was dedicated to helping the neglected.
[edit] History
St. Francis House was formally founded in 1984, but its origins date back to 1981, when the Franciscans opened a soup kitchen in the Saint Anthony Shrine [3] in downtown Boston.
As the need for services increased, Boston community and religious leaders called out for the establishment of a center where existing and additional services could be offered to the poor, the homeless, and the otherwise disenfranchised. It was the visionary, Father Louis Canino, O.F.M., a Franciscan friar and then Rector of St. Anthony’s Shrine, who was the driving force in its founding and the necessary purchase of a building on Boylston Street.[2]
Its early historical responses to help the homeless focused primarily on emergency services such as food, clothing, shelter, and medical care.
However, the problem of homelessness, in general, turned out to be more complex and could not be solved by emergency measures only, so its scope and services broadened.
Over the years of its operation, St. Francis House has dealt with barriers that impede people in overcoming poverty and homelessness, by offering an upward framework of opportunity. This includes teaching the skills needed to obtain jobs, housing, further education or, at the very least, how to have lives independent of shelters and institutions.
[edit] Operation
St. Francis House is open seven days a week, 365 days a year and it provides its guests with the basic necessities of food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and emergency assistance. There are also rehabilitative programs (employment, housing, mental health, substance abuse counseling and lifeskills training) to help those who are able to move themselves out of poverty and homelessness, to achieve lives of independence, self-respect, and hope.
There is also some transitional housing for people who are formerly homeless, living in recovery, and employed.
Being a daytime shelter model, it is a critical part of caring for the poor and homeless, since most nighttime shelters for sleeping typically put their guests out during the day, early in the morning after wake-up call. Rather than being left to the streets, which can be harsh, the day center provides a place to go and be cared for and also be part of a community, typically much more wide-ranging in services and scope than the nighttime emergency shelter scheme.
The in-house medical clinic is run by Boston Health Care for the Homeless [4].
[edit] Awards and recognition
St. Francis House is recognized as a National Model Program by:
- The United States Department of Health and Human Services
- The United States Conference of Mayors Committee on Hunger and Homelessness
- The Social Security Administration
- The United States House of Representatives Speaker’s Task Force on Homelessness
[edit] Statistics
In the first quarter of 2006, St. Francis House [3]:
- Served 25,247 breakfasts, 39,586 lunches, and provided 4,725 emergency sandwiches, a total of 69,558 meals
- Filled 2,264 clothing requests
- Provided 2,182 medical appointments
- Provided 1,470 showers
- Counseled guests at 5,816 general and psychiatric counseling sessions
- Received 5,353 hours of volunteer help
Typically, 700 meals are served each day.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ St. Francis House Mission Statement, as recapitulated in 1998. [1]
- ^ Father Louis Canino later became the founder and director of the St. Francis Springs Prayer Center at the Franciscan Center [2] in Greensboro, North Carolina.
- ^ these statistics are provided by St. Francis House, in their reports, and on their webpage.
[edit] External links
- Saint Francis House, Boston
- Charity Navigator's statistics for St. Francis House [5]
- St. Francis House corporate filings with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Secretary
