Giving Spotlight: Boston’s Pine Street Inn

Photo Credit: Pine Street Inn

Founded in 1969, Pine Street Inn leads the charge in Boston toward ending homelessness by providing wide-ranging services to thousands of men and women in need.

With the ultimate goal of making permanent housing a reality for all, Pine Street in goes beyond offering shelter and emergency services to meet immediate needs, with comprehensive programs built to guide individuals through the process of seeking permanent supportive housing, and job training programs to help residents and anyone in need to develop valuable skills and seek and hold employment.

For example, the Inn’s iCater program trainees learn on the job from professional chefs in a high quality, high volume kitchen, becoming certified in food safety and skilled in the art of cooking. Trainees also receive mentorship in financial literacy and workplace professionalism to ensure that they’re ready to be successful both inside and outside the professional kitchen.

The Pine Street Inn is open 24/7, 365, and has guided over 1000 people from homelessness to long-term housing options over the past year. Their street team and street outreach van reach out to more than 75 people every night, and help 50 people in substance abuse treatment programs every single day.

Help from volunteers is welcome at Pine Street Inn, and quite a few notable New Englanders choose the Inn when they want to give back, including New England Patriots Mathew Slater, Laurence Maroney, Chad Jackson,, Larry Izzo, and Andre Tippett, actress Eliza Dushku, and former Celtic Rick Fox.

Boston is a wonderful city to visit, and volunteering with the Pine Street Inn could be a perfect way to enrich your experience while you’re there. They offer many different volunteer opportunities on an ongoing basis, including remote opportunities during COVID.

You can visit their volunteer page or contact volunteer@pinestreetinn.org if you'd like to learn more!