Company Profile
Rosie's Place
Company Overview
Rosie's Place was founded in 1974 as the first women’s shelter in the United States. Our mission is to provide a safe and nurturing environment that helps poor and homeless women maintain their dignity, seek opportunity and find security in their lives.
Today, Rosie’s Place not only provides meals and shelter but also creates answers for 12,000 women a year through wide-ranging support, housing and education services. Rosie’s Place relies solely on the generous support of individuals, foundations and corporations and does not accept any city, state or federal funding. Thanks to these donations, 85 cents of every dollar raised goes directly to services for poor and homeless women.
We’re happy to share with you:
Our impact on our guests
The history of our organization and our founder, Kip Tiernan
Our staff and board leadership
Our FY17 annual report and financials
Available positions
A tour of our building and the many programs and services we offer
You’re invited to get involved today!
Company History
The mission of Rosie’s Place is to provide a safe and nurturing environment for poor and homeless women to maintain their dignity, seek opportunity and find security in their lives.
In the early 1970’s, Rosie’s Place founder and social justice activist Kip Tiernan volunteered with St. Philip's/Warwick House, a Boston-based Catholic civil rights and anti-war movement ministry. Her work took her into housing projects, jails and hospitals where she saw the needs of poor and homeless people. Kip was particularly struck by the sight of women who tried to disguise themselves as men in order to get a meal in men-only Boston shelters, as there was no shelter for homeless women. Kip envisioned a place where poor and homeless women would have a bed, a meal and somewhere other than the streets to meet, where they would be loved unconditionally.
On Easter Sunday 1974, Kip, with four other volunteers and $250 donated by friends, opened the doors to Rosie’s Place in the empty Rozen’s Supermarket on Columbus Avenue in Boston’s South End. It was the first women-only shelter in the United States. They chose the name Rosie’s Place because it held no connotations and sounded like it could be a women’s coffeehouse or favorite aunt’s kitchen; “Rosie” is no one in particular, yet all the women we serve. A decision was made at the outset to accept no city, state, or federal money to ensure Rosie’s Place’s independence from outside demands, policies or prejudices.
On opening day in 1974 there were more volunteers than guests. Small, pink notices that read, “If you need a meal, come here and we’ll help you” were distributed among women in the neighborhood. From that day, the word about Rosie’s Place spread and the number of women who came by began to grow. Four decades later, Rosie’s Place has evolved from providing meals and shelter at that former supermarket to a multi-service agency that works to create answers for 12,000 women a year through wide-ranging support, housing and education services.
Benefits
Compensation and Benefits: We offer a competitive salary and extensive benefits including:
• Medical & Dental Insurance (Employee pays 10% of the premium for individual coverage or 20% of the premium for family coverage)
• Employer paid Life, Short/Long Term Disability Insurance
• Three weeks paid Vacation per year, to start
• Twelve paid Holidays per year
• Twelve paid Sick Days per year
• 403(b) Retirement Plan with 4% Employer Match