The Program As one of the only daytime refuges for hungry and homeless women in Boston , the Women's Lunch Place has provided sustenance and support to a diverse community of women and their children six days a week since 1982.
The Lunch Place is unique in its approach. It recognizes that the hungry and homeless have lost more than food and shelter; they feel unvalued and alienated from community. The Lunch Place believes that this cycle of poverty and demoralization can be broken only when our society learns to respond to each individual with respect and care. The program's philosophy is to love each woman as a sister and to serve her as though she were a guest in one's own home. The meals consist of nutritious, homemade food and are served at tables set with fresh flowers, tablecloths, china, and silverware. Volunteers and staff spend time with the women, learning their stories and getting to know them as they wish to be known. There are few rules, no security guards, and no lines.
In addition to food, the refuge provides many other resources for guests. Renovations completed in the fall of 1991 created a shower, laundry, bathrooms, a quiet room with books and easy chairs, a nap room, children's room, and clothing room. They also created an advocacy room in which women may use resource guides and a free telephone, copy machine, and typewriters to conduct the incredibly complicated business that simply surviving becomes when one is poor. In the advocacy room, the women contact landlords, social service agencies, doctors, and lawyers, as well as friends and family members. 4Boston's Role 4Boston students are involved in many aspects of the Lunch Place's direct service including assistance with breakfast and lunch preparation, service, and clean-up. A large part of the volunteers' role is simply hanging-out with and befriending the women of the Lunch Place. Volunteers with special skills are especially encouraged to apply as help is needed with activities such as manicure day or bingo night. Volunteers sign up for a time to go to the Place online each week. Hours 7 am to 3:30 pm . Council Member Vicki Morte mortev@bc.edu Location The program is
located at:
67
Newbury St.
,
Boston
,
MA
02116
. Google
Maps Take
the (T) Green Line to Arlington. Coming back above ground next to
Starbucks, take a right and you should see the Church of the Covenant
on the corner of Berkley and Newbury Streets. There are outdoor stairs
leading directly to Women’s Lunch Place to the left of the main door of
the church. For more information . . . You can always contact the council member above if you have any questions about 4Boston's WLP group. The Lunch Place has a website at http://www.womenslunchplace.org.
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