Causes

Housing & homelessness Employment services

Posted by

Annie M.

Social Enterprise Director

Our mission

Pine Street Inn serves the homeless population in Boston, offering emergency services, needs assessment and case management, workforce development and placement in permanent supportive housing. Pine Street Inn is providing short-term remedies and long-term solutions to end the experience of homelessness. Our goal is to place women and men into permanent supportive housing, and help them to develop marketable work skills so that they can achieve the maximum level of independence.

What we do

Pine Street Inn offers comprehensive workforce development programming that engenders practical skills and job readiness, and also provides placement assistance to help homeless and low-income individuals re-enter the workforce. Classroom instruction and hands-on training are offered through a culinary arts/food services program and a building maintenance program.

iCater and Boston HandyWorks are earned-income enterprises that form the foundation for the workforce development program; the revenue generated from iCater and Boston HandyWorks financially supports the costs incurred by the workforce development program, including wages paid to participants.

We serve men and women (18+) who were formerly homeless and currently reside in subsidized housing, transitional programs or halfway houses. The majority of individuals we serve have a history of substance abuse, and many have mental health issues and criminal records. Participants may have additional issues that have kept them from obtaining and sustaining employment including lack of anger management, poor communication skills, and a lack of professional experience.

Boston HandyWorks and iCater offer participants a pathway into the workforce and a sense of community. By learning valuable skills and doing meaningful work, participants are able to overcome the above-mentioned barriers to employment and renew their sense of hope, creating new opportunities for themselves.

iCater offers high quality, nutritious and delicious food in congregate style to nonprofit and government institutions. iCater also has a corporate drop-off catering line, delivering food to area businesses, educational and nonprofit institutions in the Greater Boston area.

Boston HandyWorks offers high quality building maintenance and repair services to residential, non-profit and small business customers. In addition, BHW offers a line of handcrafted products for sale including butcher blocks, bread boards and custom made cabinetry.