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Stories From Past Winners

Rosie's Place: A Sanctuary of Love

How 2005 Stand on a Better World Economic Category Winner Kip Tiernan Has Put Her Prize to Good Use

Kip created a sanctuary of love when she opened the doors to Rosie’s Place 33 years ago and we continue to provide a community of support and hope for our most vulnerable sisters. With meals, groceries from our food pantry, advocacy services, emergency shelter, adult education, permanent housing, and more, Rosie’s Place has created a critical set of services that help all women make real and lasting changes and reach for their dreams.

The following examples highlight some of our achievements across the organization this past year:

  • More than 74,029 meals were served to women and their children in our warm and cheery dining room.
  • We have improved our grocery program by changing our hours of availability. This has shortened the length of time that our guests wait to visit Rosie’s Place Groceries and, hopefully, has made the experience more pleasant for everyone! For those guests who are unable to visit the program when it is open, we are offering to bag groceries for pick-up at a later time. Rosie’s Place Groceries continues to be extremely popular among our guests, providing about 700 women each month with food to take home to their families.
  • This year, Rosie’s Place’s advocates are once again on track to schedule approximately 6,000 appointments with guests to help them access services at Rosie’s Place and other public and private programs. Assistance includes clothing, housing, medical services, educational and employment opportunities, legal advice, transportation, and emergency funds for eviction prevention and prescriptions.
  • In the past year, more than 500 women found safety and nurturing in our emergency and short-term housing, while advocates worked with them to find permanent homes and secure the services they need.
  • This year, the Homelessness Prevention Outreach program once again provided outreach to more than 131 chronically mentally ill women who have previously experienced homelessness. This successful program has helped nearly all of its participants maintain safe and affordable housing.
  • The Adult Education program provided about 75 women each session with an opportunity to improve their skills and increase their self-sufficiency.  We offer free ESL, GED preparation and Literacy courses all within our familiar and supportive environment.

Kip’s vision of social justice coupled with the help of supporters who believe change is possible has helped Rosie’s Place accomplish amazing things, both big and small.  Whether a woman needs a hot meal, an opportunity to learn English, or a sympathetic and trustworthy advocate, Rosie’s Place works to offer a welcoming environment to make real and last changes in their lives.Back to Top