FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 13, 2014

CONTACT: Peter Van Delft
(617) 704-6682

SHERIFF TOMPKINS ATTENDS, APPLAUDS PINE STREET INN’S ANNUAL GRADUATION CELEBRATION

Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins with Corinne Ferguson, Chair of the Board of Directors for Pine Street Inn (left) and Lyndia Downie, President & Executive Director of the Pine Street Inn (right).

Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins recently attended Pine Street Inn’s 2014 Graduation ceremony.

Founded in 1969, Pine Street Inn is New England’s largest provider of permanent supportive housing, emergency shelter, job training, and street outreach to homeless and formerly homeless individuals. Pine Street welcomes more than 1,600 men and women daily, providing short and long–term solutions to help individuals gain stability and reach their highest level of independence. The organization currently houses more than 800 tenants in 36 housing locations, as well as apartments throughout Greater Boston.

The graduation ceremony not only recognized individuals who have gained permanent housing in the past year, but also graduates of the organization’s various programs, which include: the Boston HandyWorks Training Program, the Housekeeping Training Program, and the Food Services Training Program, in addition to individuals who have secured employment through IMPACT Employment Services or housing through the Veterans Transitional Housing Program.

The ceremony featured a keynote address by Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, remarks from a job training graduate, and the presentation of the Robert Heard Scholarship. Opening remarks were delivered by Pine Street Inn’s President and Executive Director Lyndia Downie, who congratulated the graduates and expressed her gratitude to the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department for helping to foster independent, productive members of society, much as the Pine Street Inn does.

“We’re really happy to be working with the Sheriff’s Department in placing more people with jobs and addressing issues of recidivism and homelessness,” said Ms. Downie.

Expressing mutual admiration for the Pine Street Inn, Sheriff Tompkins applauded the organization and its leader.

“The work that the Pine Street Inn is doing is exactly what we’re all about at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department,” said Sheriff Tompkins. “They’re giving people options and providing them with opportunities to turn things around in their lives. Options and opportunities are the very things that curtail crime and recidivism. I commend Lyndia and the Pine Street Inn staff for their dedication to this cause, and I’m glad that I was there to witness firsthand the profound impact that their work has had on so many lives.”

For more information, visit: www.pinestreetinn.org.

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