This Holiday Season, Add Radical Compassion to Your Giving List
As we open our wallets to people in need this holiday season (and anytime), let’s back up our actions with “radical compassion.” I heard these two words while seated in a room with 1,800 people at the recent Rosie’s Place annual luncheon. Immediately struck by their power, I reached out to the speaker, Leemarie Mosca, president and executive director of Rosie’s Place, to hear more.
“Radical compassion is intentional kindness, that choice of unconditional love,” said Mosca. “It doesn’t mean being naïve or unrealistic about challenges. It means that you see all those realities and you love anyway. To me, that’s radical. It is easier to look away when we see someone who’s hurting so much. In the work at Rosie’s Place, we’re challenging you to look straight ahead and stand alongside women who might be in a hard place.”
Rosie’s Place is a Boston-based champion of poor and homeless women with an impressive track record. Funded exclusively by personal donations (65 percent) and corporate investments (35 percent), this relatively small but mighty non-profit helps over 12,000 women each year. An untiring network of volunteers, friends, and supporters help staff members serve daily meals, and connect guests with all kinds of resources including housing, jobs, training, healthcare, transportation, and legal advocacy.
Love is social activism
Attending the luncheon was part of my personal commitment to SAP’s Month of Service initiative. In SAP parlance, our purpose is to help the world run better and improve people’s lives. Behind the vision is a strategy of programs and partnerships to address the complex challenges facing people far less privileged than most of us. When I told Mosca that my support of Rosie’s Place, which also includes membership on the organization’s Leadership Council, has morphed into what I consider activism, she agreed.
“People are banding together for the most marginalized women and their families,” she said. “It’s powerful to take that kind of action publicly.”
Removing barriers to help
Rosie’s Place is in year two of a five-year expansion plan to reach more women by going into housing developments, public schools, and trial courts.
“There are many more women in need than the ones who come through our doors,” said Mosca. “We wanted to go out into the community and bring our services to wherever women in need might be. They may have children in school, be parents themselves attending school, or involved in the court system, but are often resource poor and too overwhelmed to navigate complex help services.”
Despite deriving zero funding from government sources, Rosie’s Place is a microcosm of the challenges women face in society at-large. Seeing skyrocketing addiction rates, the non-profit added a staff expert who understands the unique needs of women struggling with substance abuse. Rosie’s Place also has a public policy program and conducts “know your rights” workshops to help women increasingly hurt by everything from public benefit cuts to stringent immigration laws.
“We work to make lives better for women by impacting change at the city and state legislative levels,” said Mosca. “We reassure undocumented women, who may have children that are U.S. citizens, that Rosie’s Place does not report on guests to any outside agency, encouraging them to access services. Too often, fear of deportation prevents women from getting their families the help that is their right. We want women to know they can continue to rely on Rosie’s Place as a safe haven.”
Caring is greatest gift
Most inspiring at the annual luncheon were the real-life stories from women who have changed their lives with help from Rosie’s Place. Their presence was everywhere that day. Outside the hall, some were selling jewelry they made at the Women’s Craft Cooperative. Other women shared their personal journeys in videos on stage, or comments as audience members. In fact, some servers at the convention center told Mosca they had visited Rosie’s Place in the past.
“It means a lot to our guests when their entire selves are truly seen; that people in the community don’t recognize them as needy, but as people worthy of their investment,” said Mosca. “Our guests think it’s so great to see that people really care about them. When women see volunteers come in for a tour or Rosie’s Place represented out in the community, they’re proud to be associated with us and proud that other people are in it with them. We’re all in this world together.”
Oh, and with winter fast approaching, Mosca said donations of coats, warm mittens, and gloves are needed, along with gift cards, pajamas, and other comfort items that stock the free holiday store for Rosie’s Place guests. Happy holidays!
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