Pine Street Inn is a nonprofit organization that aims to end homelessness by moving individuals from the street into homes. Based in Boston, they were founded in 1969 in Chinatown and relocated to their current location in 1980, where the main shelter remains today.

Pine Street Inn is the largest provider of homeless services in the New England area, serving over 2,000 people a day across their emergency shelter, outreach, permanent supportive housing, and workforce development initiatives.

History

In 1916, Charles G. Dawes opened the Rufus F. Dawes Hotel for Men in honor of his late son. The hotel, located at 8 Pine Street, Boston, served as low-cost housing for homeless men. The shelter was set to be demolished during the South Cove Urban Renewal Project in 1969, when the Association of Boston Urban Priests acquired the shelter. Pine Street Inn was formally founded in 1969, and found its start serving 200 men. Paul Sullivan served as the shelter's first executive director from 1969 until his passing in 1983.

Pine Street Inn was formally named after its original Chinatown address in 1973. In 1980, Pine Street Inn moved from 8 Pine Street to the Boston Fire Department's old headquarters in the South End, where the current location remains.

Today, Pine Street Inn has four emergency shelter locations in Boston, three of which are open 24/7/365, and the other of which is open to guests of the Inn each night. As well as shelter facilities, Pine Street Inn also engages with homeless individuals on the street through its outreach team, which was founded in 1986 when a homeless man seeking shelter passed away in a storm around two blocks away.

Though shelter and outreach are prominent aspects of Pine Street Inn's service model, its ultimate goal is to end homelessness by way of moving individuals into homes. This mindset led them to focus on housing sites as well, the first of which was developed in 1984 in Brookline and housed 26 formerly homeless individuals. Pine Street continued expanding its services, and in 1993 began its food service training program. The method for moving individuals out of homelessness was to provide job training, help with the process, and find permanent housing.

The most recent addition to Pine Street's network of permanent supportive housing sites is The Lyndia, located at 3368 Washington Street. For this project, Pine Street Inn partnered with The Community Builders to transform an old administrative/warehouse building (belonging to the former) into over 200 apartment units—140 units going to Pine Street's housing program, and 62 units set aside as affordable housing for families.

Their upcoming housing project involves another collaboration with The Community Builders, where the two organizations plan to redevelop a hotel in Dorchester into over 100 studio apartments.

Services

Emergency shelters

Pine Street Inn operates four emergency shelters, three of which are open 24/7/365, the other of which is an overnight shelter only. Its men's and women's facilities are located in the South End of Boston.

The men's inn is the main shelter facility founded in 1969 and moved to the South End in 1980. Beside it stands the women's shelter, which was opened in 1980 in the building it currently occupies. The Women’s Inn—or, Yawkey House—provides shelter for approximately 120 women each night.

Pine Street Inn also operates two other shelters: Shattuck Shelter, a low barrier facility at the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain and the Holy Family Inn, a sober, overnight facility.

Outreach

In 1986, after a man passed away during a snowstorm, Pine Street Inn's Outreach team was founded.

Aside from shelter, Pine Street also has an outreach team that provides services to those on the street where they are. From 5:00 AM to 9:00 PM, they are available for daytime assistance, which can include providing supplies (e.g., water bottles, snacks, hygiene products, clothing, etc.) or assistance (i.e., with medical care, housing applications, benefits claims, information on staying at the shelter, etc.). From 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM, teams in vans canvas the city, where they're able to inform people that they can stay at a shelter and they can provide warm meals, drinks, and other supplies (such as blankets and warm clothes) depending on the weather.

They also have a specific Veterans Outreach team, which provides the same support for homeless veterans.

Permanent supportive housing

Pine Street Inn develops and operates permanent supportive housing for individuals transitioning out of homelessness. These housing units are offered at subsidized rates to lower-income residents. Permanent supportive housing includes on-site staff and services to assist residents with maintaining stable housing. In March 2025, the completion of a new housing development brought Pine Street Inn’s total to more than 1,100 units of housing for individuals moving out of homelessness.

Workforce development

Pine Street Inn’s workforce development programs include job training initiatives for individuals experiencing homelessness. These programs train participants for careers in areas such as food preparation, building maintenance, and hospitality. Training includes both classroom instruction and hands-on work experience, including apprenticeships in areas such as food service and housekeeping. Participants also receive instruction in skills such as financial literacy and workplace readiness The organization’s food service training program began in 1993 and has continued into present day.