In our 2023 Client Survey, we shared with clients that we wanted to support a local charity and asked for recommendations of local organizations to support. A total of 35 different organizations were recommended, so it was hard to boil it down to just one, but we had two major criteria:
1) Maximize financial donation by ensuring the organization was on a list approved for matching from LPL Financial through the LPL Foundation Advisor Match Program.
2) Location: we want to be able to volunteer in person so a local organization with opportunities to volunteer, host collection drives and host or attend an event was a must!
While there are a lot of deserving organizations in the greater Boston community, between client votes and our above stated criteria, Rosie’s Place was in the top spot.
Rosie's Place is the first women-only homeless shelter in the United States. They have a unique approach to helping the population of homeless women in Boston. Rosie's Place provides not only food and shelter for women without homes but also provides resources and information while promoting the message that "every woman is a resilient and resourceful individual."
It was our great pleasure to write a check for a donation to Rosie's place in April. That donation was matched by the LPL Advisor Match program! Thank you LPL for supporting our efforts to give back to our community.
Rosie's Place sent us a thank you letter and said:
"Thank you so much for your generous gift! We are so grateful that during these most difficult times you choose to stand with our guests.
Here at Rosie's Place, we've never been busier. Because of you, we've continued to meet the most basic and essential needs of hundreds of poor and homeless women each day.
We are a community devoted to providing unconditional love and compassion to all in need, and we extend far beyond a fixed address. You make our important work possible --Thank you!" 
Here is an excerpt from the Rosie's Place website that tells their origin story:
In the early 1970’s, Rosie’s Place founder Kip Tiernan volunteered with St. Philip's/Warwick House. Her work took her into housing projects, jails and hospitals where she saw the needs of poor and homeless people. Kip was particularly struck by the sight of women who tried to disguise themselves as men in order to get a meal in men-only Boston shelters, as there was no shelter for homeless women. Kip envisioned a place where poor and homeless women would have a bed, a meal and somewhere other than the streets.
On Easter Sunday 1974, Kip, with four other volunteers and $250 donated by friends, opened the doors to Rosie’s Place in the empty Rozen’s Supermarket on Columbus Avenue in Boston’s South End. It was the first women-only shelter in the United States. They chose the name Rosie’s Place because it held no connotations and sounded like it could be a women’s coffeehouse or favorite aunt’s kitchen; “Rosie” is no one in particular, yet all the women we serve. A decision was made at the outset to accept no city, state, or federal money to ensure Rosie’s Place’s independence from outside demands, policies or prejudices.
On opening day in 1974 there were more volunteers than guests. Small, pink notices that read, “If you need a meal, come here and we’ll help you” were distributed among women in the neighborhood. Over four decades later, Rosie’s Place has evolved from providing meals and shelter at that former supermarket to a multi-service community center that works to create answers for 12,000 women a year through wide-ranging support, education and outreach services."
Rosie's Place continues to increase its services and has increased the number of meals served by 23% in the last year, with over 62,000 nutritious meals! The work being done by Rosie's Place goes beyond the meals and shelter provided; multi-lingual advocates offer personalized support with short and long-term issues. They offer expert help through their Legal Program, Recovery Support Navigator, and mental health, employment, and housing search specialists. They even have a dedicated education facility, offering free ESOL, computer, and literacy classes."
Rosie's Place is an integral part of the Boston community, and we are proud to have the ability to support their cause in aiding the homeless women of Boston.
Thank you to our SMB Community for your support and interest in helping us give back to our community. We are grateful to have such a philanthropic spirit in our community. Many of you wrote in with so many organizations that you support, and some of you have even started your own non-profit organizations as well. We will continue to shine light on this theme of giving back throughout the year.