On one of the toniest streets in Boston, a thoroughfare soon to be jammed with harried shoppers hoping to conjure the perfect holiday gifts before December 25, is a place where real magic happens all year long. The Women’s Lunch Place, tucked underneath The Church of the Covenant at 67 Newbury Street, offers rare refuge for women facing homelessness and poverty.  Their gift is dignity, and they deliver it to all women who pass through their doors, with professionalism, compassion and a strategy for recovery.

A safe haven for women up against the multi-threat reality of inflation, housing shortages, opioid and mental health crises and the loss of reproductive rights might seem like an impossible dream; as impossible as finding affordable housing or a living wage. But Women’s Lunch Place (WLP) has been providing nutritious meals, day shelter, basic supplies, counseling and advocacy to Boston area women with the steadfast belief that “dignity is everything” for forty years. 

The women who come seeking support at Women’s Lunch Place have stories as varied and colorful as the ladies who lunch down the street at Contessa. Take Rosie, a surgical tech who was working 40-80 hours a week before low pay and relocation resulted in her losing housing; or Elenixa, an immigrant who escaped political violence in her country to make a better life for her son.

Though their stories are of course unique, displaced women describe a common feeling of invisibility, shame and even scorn from their communities. As Stephanie Land, the author of the memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive explains it, “It seemed like certain members of society looked for opportunities to judge and scold poor people for what they felt we didn’t deserve.”

Women’s Lunch Place designs their service approach to meet each client as they are, without judgment and in the context of the economic, social and medical systems that are failing them. As a result, women feel seen and valued. Holistic, equitable support starting at seven in the morning takes the form of meeting basic needs like nutrition, showers and clothing, then moving toward medical and mental health care, advocacy and longer term wellness. 

One part of WLP’s multi prong wellness programming is called Therapeutic Expressions. These creative classes include jewelry design, yoga, dancing and art making. The art making is where Kim Collins comes in, and where you, dear Misstropolis reader, comes in as well. 

Kim Collins is a visual artist with an undergraduate degree in art and a masters in printing with a concentration in electronic publishing. She had a career in the printing industry as a project manager and color specialist. But undiagnosed mental illness led to symptoms so severe she began self medicating. Her ability to function in the workplace eroded and without proper psychiatric care, she lost her job. Soon her personal ties frayed.

Things went from bad to worse until she was, in her words, “rolling down a hill towards a brick wall.” Following a severe trauma, she found herself homeless. 

“Being homeless makes you feel pretty worthless,” she says. “It takes everything from you. It breaks you, it takes you to the bottom.” 

Kim came to the Women’s Lunch Place looking for help. Like all WLP clients, she received expert, comprehensive care in a place safe enough to allow healing. Now, twelve years later, she has secure housing and a long term medical strategy to stay healthy. Thanks to WLP, she is able to share her creative expertise with women going through their own trauma as an art teacher in the Therapeutic Expressions Program. Such is the family-like environment at the shelter, that many women who recover and find housing opt to volunteer or work there.

This year, WLP commissioned Kim to make a special painting for the cover of their holiday cards. Elegant, optimistic and dynamic, the image tells the story of women’s resiliency and courage in a difficult but ultimately beautiful world.

Here’s where you come in! Holiday cards are available for purchase on the Women’s Lunch Place website. A $25 donation gets you a pack of five cards and will provide a woman with a week of healthy meals, safe transportation to the shelter, or a winter hat, socks and gloves. 

Cards are also available to order in bulk. An order of 100 cards costs $500 and can be customized with a personal message. Imagine having Women’s Lunch Place take holiday cards off your To Do list. Imagine being part of a woman’s recovery journey just by making a simple click. The team at WLP will even mail cards out to your entire list! I’m going to order a bunch for thank you cards and as gifts for family and friends. The options are many, but the directive is singular - order your cards now!

Winter is hard for women in poverty. Needs which seem manageable in nice weather become life threatening when the temperature drops and ice accumulates. For women on their own on the streets or in shelters, the season ahead is one of extreme need. You can help.

If holiday cards are not in the cards for you, there are other ways to get involved.

Donate directly through WLP website here or sign up to volunteer. Hundreds of volunteers are required to meet the increasing demand for WLP services.

As we enter the season of holiday madness, it’s more important than ever to deliberately refuse desensitization. If one woman is suffering we are all suffering. Every story of homelessness is different, just as every tent on Mass and Cass covers a unique, albeit tragically preventable story. We can all do our very small part to help a woman on her journey to stability.

In Kim Collin’s words, “Since I've had a home, my whole world has changed. Everything has changed. Getting up in the morning and knowing that you have hope. Having hope is the most valuable thing in the world. It’s a fantastic feeling.”

Holiday cards can be ordered through the Women’s Lunch Place website.

For questions or bulk orders, contact Miriam: miriam@womenslunchplace.org.