For nearly four decades, St. Francis House has served people in need.
The Boston nonprofit started out as a simple bread line in 1984, and has since grown into the largest day shelter in Massachusetts. St. Francis House is a place for people to go when they experience homelessness and are in need of a hot meal, clean clothes, a visit with a doctor or other services.
On the second floor of the organization's Boylston Street building, a store called Fresh Threads is full of donated clothes neatly arranged on shelves and hangers. People come here to find pants, shirts, shoes and other essential items.
Icy Rolling, a Hurricane Katrina survivor, said she moved to Boston from Mississippi to get her life back together. She is looking for a job, so she came to Fresh Threads with interviews on her mind. Rolling searched through the racks to find a pair of pants and a shirt to "dress for success."
The shelter also assisted her with finding an apartment and food.
"St. Francis helped me with the security deposit," she said. "They helped me furnish my apartment for me and my husband. They helped me with clothing. They’re helping me with food. They’re helping me with basically everything, and I appreciate them."
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St. Francis House President and CEO Karen LaFrazia said people can come to the shelter for help any day of the year.
"On any given day, we're seeing 400 or 500 people a day coming for anything from breakfast to meeting with a housing navigator," she said.
The multi-service organization serves more than 180,000 hot meals each year and distributes more than 8,000 sets of free clothing, LaFrazia said. They also offer workforce development assistance, and services for people who need help with mental and behavioral health issues, along with substance abuse and recovery programs.
St. Francis House has a partnership with Boston Health Care for the Homeless program, and it has a full medical clinic in the building.
“That's the niche that St. Francis House fills," LaFrazia said. "We create a welcoming, respectful and sort of very resource-laden place for people who are experiencing homelessness to be able to come and, first and foremost, meet their most basic needs.”
Tony Williams traveled from Lynn to pick out clothes. With inflation and a rise in food prices making it harder for him to make ends meet, he said the dontated items help stretch his budget.
"A lot of times I come up and I'm able to get footwear, clothing — you know, underwear, stuff like that — and it helps out," he said. "It helps out a lot."
Wayne Devine is living at Pine Street Inn until he finds housing. Devine said getting fresh, clean clothes helps with his self-esteem.
“It gives confidence," he said. "People are between a rock and a hard place. And they continue to try to help people here, and get mentored.”
Rafael Cristobal has been working at St. Francis House for three months as a van driver and clothing donation processor. He said it’s deeply gratifying.
“I distribute donations that we get on a day-to-day basis to the guests that come every day," he said. "And it's a good feeling to help someone feel happy about how they look and how they feel, you know? So, I enjoy that.”
LaFrazia said nearly 7,000 people came to St. Francis last year. She said sometimes there is a steep cliff that drops people into homelessness, but the pathway out can be long.
“The first thing I would say — I always say — is nobody wants to be homeless. Nobody grew up thinking, 'This is the life I want to have for myself,'” she said.
This is the fourth of four stories this holiday season in the GBH News’ series "The Holidays, A Time for Charity,” profiling local nonprofits making a difference in the lives of families across the state.
