WLP Partners with Experts across a Variety of Fields for New Ideas, Perspectives, and Guidance
As Women’s Lunch Place continues to be recognized as a thought leader in the homeless sector, we have built relationships with distinguished experts in housing, healthcare, workforce development, and other fields. We work with these specialists to deepen our programming, develop and refine our service model, and amplify the voices of our guests while advocating for broader public policy changes.
At a board retreat in early spring, WLP spoke with City of Boston leaders Sheila Dillon and Laila Bernstein, who serve as Chief of Housing and Deputy Director of the Supportive Housing Division, respectively. Together, we reviewed the City’s action plan to fight homelessness, including our collective COVID response, the pipeline of Permanent Supportive Housing, and rental assistance distribution.
In response to what we have witnessed over the past year of the pandemic, one of WLP’s primary concerns is addressing the declining mental health of the women we serve. Isolation, loneliness, substance use disorders, and a plethora of other factors are all contributing to an ongoing crisis within our community.
MENTAL HEALTH AND HEALING
Among the experts that WLP is consulting with is board member Dr. Derri Shtasel, who serves as the Chair and Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Division of Public and Community Psychiatry and as an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School.
“Women’s Lunch Place has a longstanding commitment to our guests’ mental health needs as part of its fundamental mission and through partnering with Boston Health Care. for the Homeless Program for on-site clinical services,” said Dr. Shtasel.
“In addition, we are proud of our staff’s sophistication in understanding the need to simultaneously meet people where they are, while at the same time gently and respectfully promoting individual relationships. This slow process of building trust promotes healing and eventually, when appropriate, makes referrals to mental health services possible.”
PREPARING GUESTS FOR THE WORKFORCE
WLP has also increased our focus on workforce development. As the female-dominated hospitality and foodservice industries have been devastated by the pandemic, many of our guests are looking at new career opportunities for the first time and scheduling appointments at WLP for guidance.
To aid in these efforts, we hired Rebekah Lashman, an innovative consultant and recognized thought leader in workforce development. Before beginning her consulting practice, Lashman was the Senior Vice President of Commonwealth Corporation, leading their regional and sector strategies team. Additionally, she formerly served as the Manager of Workforce Partnerships for the Boston Private Industry Council. From January through March 2021, Rebekah worked with WLP staff to prioritize the needs of our guests and determine the most effective role for our organization to serve. Her approach was both fact-first and compassionate, a combination that continues to shape WLP’s growth.
“You shouldn’t design a program if you don’t have good data around the problem you’re trying to solve,” said Rebekah. “I look for clients that have a clear sense of the issue they want to work on, and Women’s Lunch Place has that. You are experts in your clients and their issues, and you are dedicated to building more robust systems to serve them.”
There are already a variety of intensive workforce development programs throughout Greater Boston which can act as effective pathways toward economic empowerment. However, we have found that an increasing subset of our guests are pre-contemplative (i.e., not ready for these programs), as their trauma and homeless histories have eroded their coping mechanisms and life skills.
Following Rebekah’s guidance, the design of WLP’s Job Readiness program is underway and seeks to address these issues. Through our programming, women will be able to develop the skills and emotional regulation needed to successfully enter employment or into existing workforce development programs. This will be particularly helpful for homeless women who lack a high school diploma and face multiple barriers such as limited English, learning disabilities, criminal records, histories of trauma, and more.
WLP will combine individualized instruction with intensive case management to address these barriers and help women further their education, complete our prerequisites program, and ultimately engage in successful job searches with the long-term goal of finding employment and greater economic stability.
DEVELOPING WLP STAFF
Beyond our guest population, WLP’s emphasis on workforce development has also extended to our staff, who have now taken part in three Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) workshops with board member Christie Lindor, Founder and CEO of Tessi Consulting.
As a former technologist turned workplace culture and inclusion strategist, Lindor first encountered WLP through a corporate volunteering event. She recalls being impressed by the level of organization and collaboration in our kitchen and stepping up her volunteer efforts shortly thereafter.
“I’m in a state of constantly educating and explaining to leaders that DEI is not just a project or an initiative,” said Lindor. “It is a core value, and it is about how you think, the habits you create, and the systems you have in place. I can measure early success when I see executives start to ask questions differently and become allies by holding themselves as well as their peers accountable.”
In this spirit, WLP leadership undertook the annual budget process through the lens of DEI. The National Low Income Housing Coalition report “Out of Reach 2020,” which detailed housing wage data by state, disclosed that an affordable housing wage in Massachusetts is $28.81/hour for a one- bedroom apartment and $35.52/hour for a two-bedroom.
In response, we initiated a multi-year step up for entry-level wages. WLP also recognizes the importance of economic security in retirement, especially for women. Our internal analysis of the 403b retirement plan revealed a disparity in participation between management and frontline staff. Therefore, we transitioned from a 5% match for staff contributing to the 403b plan to a 5% contribution for all employees regardless of personal participation.
WLP is determined to foster an environment that continuously embraces diversity and supports our employees equitably as we provide professional development and opportunities for advancement. A new tuition reimbursement benefit supports this goal via degree programs and standalone courses to build the skills required for an employee’s success.
The Lindor-led DEI workshops were not isolated exercises. WLP’s long-standing commitment to welcoming a diverse guest population is mirrored in our success in the recruitment and retention of a skilled and increasingly diverse staff. Our high retention and low vacancy rates serve as a strong indicator that employees appreciate WLP’s intentional focus on building a workforce that centers around a sense of belonging, safety, and a commitment to professional growth for all employees.