Letter from WLP Executive Director, Jennifer

No matter where you are reading this letter – at your kitchen table, on your living room couch, or perhaps in your home office, I imagine that you are nervous about the health crisis that surrounds us, but are feeling relatively safe and have some control over your environment. I am writing to tell you about the population that Women’s Lunch Place serves; women who are homeless and living in extreme poverty, who were struggling before this pandemic. Lacking choices, basic necessities and safe accommodations, these women need us now more than ever before.

Throughout this frightening time, it has become clear that there are tremendous unmet needs in our larger community. Food is medicine and access to nutritious meals is central to maintaining physical and mental health. WLP’s Healthy Meals Program has pivoted to serve takeout meals for our guests and, in an unprecedented move, is now delivering an additional 700+ meals a week to homeless families living in scattered site apartments across the City of Boston as they continue to search for permanent housing. These new and innovative partnerships aid families and individuals who lack the means to navigate the complexities of our current situation and have found themselves unable to obtain food.

Economic, racial, and gender inequities have always disproportionately impacted our guests and those living on the margins in our community. That gulf has widened and our support is needed now more than ever. WLP will continue to serve women and families who are at high risk for infection and are disproportionately burdened by the continued need for social distancing and shelter-in-place orders. WLP advocates quickly developed a new service model, providing housing assistance to 75 guests in the past two months alone. Their wellness check-ins resulted in a new program to deliver pantry boxes with food, PPE, cleaning supplies and toiletries to elderly and medically compromised guests. Currently delivering 25+ boxes a week, the program is growing exponentially as we continue to identify greater needs. 

I ask you to join us on the forefront of the battle to alleviate the consequences of this devastating virus and support the vital work of Women’s Lunch Place. Your generosity allows us to stand with our guests as they struggle for their survival amid hunger, homelessness, and poverty.

With deep gratitude and wishing you and those you care about good health,

Jennifer Hanlon Wigon

WLP Executive Director