Spring 2012 ~ Vol. 34 #3











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Spring Vol 34 #3

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Social Services
Shelter Me, O Lord
by Katherine Green, CSJ
Online Updates
May 16, 2012
May 2, 2012
April 18, 2012


Shelter Me, O Lord - Every time I hear these words sung or read I think of what an extraordinary gift our compassionate God is to Pine Street’s Women’s Inn. It is a respite in an ever raging storm. In the biblical sense, it is “shelter.”

The Women’s Inn is also a “pink palace” and a “five star shelter” as dubbed by the women themselves. Indeed it is spotless, attractive, and yes, very pink.

People need housing, benefits, legal, and medical help. Very capable staff can and do fulfill these needs, but they offer more because they have their eyes and hearts open. They can and do call each by name. Because it is personal, the Women’s Inn becomes a life raft for many women for many, many years. Being privileged to work
there for a long time afords me















the perspective to see the need for such a compassionate place, and to see its value over time in the lives of women.
This was true for Mary, who grew up in an orphanage run by Dominican Sisters. She was the first woman I met when I went there as a volunteer, and was my welcome wagon every morning. Mary stayed at the Women’s Inn from the day it opened in 1980 until she got housing in 1996. Though then housed, she returned every night for supper and companionship. She died in 2005. It is also true for Lena, who returned to the Inn after an 11-year hiatus, dotted with stays in mental health facilities. Lena grew up in Haverhill, down the
street from “the Farm.” Lena is brilliant. She discusses politics, baseball, and gardening engagingly. She has always refused housing, because she is waiting to get the money back the government owes her. She recently returned to her parents’ home. They are in their eighties. I expect to see her again.

They say the aim is to end homelessness. It is a goal to be prized, no doubt, but I have come to understand that there will always be the need for a place to provide shelter from the storm.