Another Great place to get your Volunteer on! Contrary to the name, Pine Street Inn is not a top notch Maine Bead and Breakfast. It is a top notch Boston homeless shelter! (All the more better!) One of the few good things founded in 1969, Pine Street Inn provides a vast range of services: permanent supportive housing, temporary housing, job training, and (Particularly laudable) STREET OUTREACH to over 1000 homeless (or formerly homeless) each day. They offer a wide range of volunteer activities! Everything from Clinic Receptionist in their very effective health clinic to Food preparation in their superb dining faculty.Pine street is particulary good setting for volunteerism for Corporate Groups or Faith Based organizations. But here is a tip: If you do not do it as part of a group, bring a Volunteer buddy! It will make it more fun and you will get more done and get more out of it! Because that's the weird thing about volunteering: the volunteers are the ones who benefit the most! (and I DON'T mean from pocketing food from the cafeteria) Here is another tip: If you do bring a Volunteer buddy, bring some one more responsible then I tried to. Who cancelled on me THREE times! The last lame excuse: "There was a fire in my apartment!" When I had to report this to the coordinator as to why she didn't show up as planned, he quipped: "Well, Claude. I always knew your friend Sarah would do almost anything to get out of volunteering but I always thought she would draw the line at arson!" read more

My case worker Abba had worked wonders with me. She is wonderful and very helpful when I need help problem solving. The only case worker that has gotten through to me. She's help me trust people again . And I'm so greatful for her. read more

The shelter and employment programs were wonderful, until i was housed by pine street inn supportive housing, their staff and administration is willing to pull dirty tricks to intimidate and attack clients they housed and claimed to help. Matthew Pyne, Ricky Rickerson, Michael Jones, Shaun Sequea, Andrea Quintyne, Claudine Bernadin, Dana Hill, and Their housing attorney Catherine F Downing all conspired to Racially attack me by fabricating racist events to slander me, a mentally ill client. I gave them multiple chances to take my legally attained security camera footage seriously but they continued to attack me, now I'm shopping for libel or defamation lawyers... read more

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Pine Street Inn (PSI) recently removed my google review, posted on 7/16/25 (which got 20 likes), so I'm going to repost it here. PSI is just a corrupt business hiding behind the non-profit mask, and only cares about their bottom line. They receive lots of tax money for housing refugees, so they treat those residents much better- which is discrimination. They continue to cut corners by refusing to invest in hiring kind, competent staff. This causes the prison-like environment talked about in other reviews, and any reactions by residents in response to this toxic environment are used against them to justify the cruelty. Past residents calling PSI a godsend have such low expectations because society shames you for expecting more when you're homeless: Deeply disappointing and frustrating. I followed staff directions on how to store my belongings, and everything I owned was thrown out without warning. Most of the staff--mainly Haitian--were cold, dismissive, quick to anger, and consistently rude to me, while openly joking and bonding with each other and Haitian residents. The favoritism was obvious and isolating. Every single morning, they slammed doors in the sleeping area while people were still trying to rest. That wasn't an accident--it was daily, and it showed a complete lack of care or basic professionalism. Younger female staff were also often openly rude--wish that kind of behavior got called out more. Only the case workers seemed competent and kind. Unfortunately, they weren't the ones you dealt with most of the time. Don't bury this review with fake positive ones or kill it by mass clicking 'report'--face it. 20 likes read more

Donating here is a pleasure; the staff is SOO appreciative no matter what things we put together or what amount we donate. They are truly angels! read more

I worked here for 6 months cuz this place is a 6 month program and then the employees help u get another job but this job goes pretty quick when u start. If ur trying to get on ur feet I would recommend this job. read more

This shelter is horrible, it's disgusting jail juice and prison blankets with hair and bed bugs on dirty Matt's that you have to share with others when the put them all back in the same pile, not only is the staff extremely demeaning, bizarre, abusive, doesn't have any social skills, not used to massachusetts culture, rude, condescending, liars, Unaccommodating, antisocial, demeaning and mocking of disabled people they also are not friendly towards LGBT people do not go here if you are transgender . Stay away if you are lgbt . I got bit buy bed bugs and the staff bullied me and my service animals I only stayed a couple nights wish I slept outside instead, the only difference between this place and jail is that you can leave the building , You have to wake up at literally 4 am and literally jump up and can't lay down during the day , Felicia is a bully and constantly picked on me the 3 days I was there even thought I was extremely polite to her it must have been because my skins color and my sexual orientation that made her do it to me I believe, they tried to keep all my personal property when I left , staff picked through my designer clothes and took what they wanted before returning my things not even a joke what a joke I'm done place should be shut down . Staff accused my service dogs of biting another person even thought it didn't happen just so they could kick me out because they didn't like I was gay transgender either kid with autism and service dogs I was not welcome wish I never went there I am traumatized read more

The pine street inn is great at providing a much needed service to a community of people unable to help themselves. In times past, they their residents tended to run amok through South End, getting into fights and generally being a nuisance. However, I've noticed that in the last few years it's gotten significantly better. I don't know if they're coordinating with police, being more selective about who they let in or what. It's good that somebody is doing something about the urban homeless. read more

The Pine Street Inn has changed very little over the years for the "guests" that are forced to turn to the shelter for a variety of reasons, not all of them drug or alcohol related. The Inn remains immune to advancements made by other shelters around the nation and its staff are split between a minority that are truly helpful and a majority that are abusive and uneducated. After a long hospital stay that caused me to lose everything, I was forced to start all over with my career and life. My girlfriend and I came to Boston as the only city in which I had even a hope of getting an IT job. DC and Richmond, VA were depressed, economically, and after 6 months of looking, I hadn't even been able to secure an interview. The Pine Street Inn was the only viable option: We came to the city, figured out the food, figured out the bed and started immediately to pound the pavements looking for jobs. I got 5 job offers in 14 days flat. It took my girlfriend 21 days. We both begin work next week... no help to Pine Street's Women's Shelter where my girlfriend was forced to stay. Their supervisors and staff staff did everything in its power to keep us from getting jobs. The mantra, there, is "rules are rules" and the rules are designed, Joseph Heller style, to provide a choice for its guests between bed and job. One cannot have both. The abuse on both sides is easy to see: Dress casually, walk in and, as politely as one can, ask simple questions. One is immediately yelled at, cursed at, derided and threatened with expulsion. If one is actively searching for a job, then one must find a job that allows you to leave every day at 2:30 pm so that you can get back for the bed lottery. Or, you can humiliate yourself by asking your employer for a letter proving that you have a job ("why do you need it? Is this for a probation officer, or something? Are you a felon?"). If there is no 'rule' saying you must or must not do something, a staff member will be quick to make one up: You MUST turn in your coat, you must turn in your bag, you can ask for it back if you need to go outside, you will be yelled at if you DO ask for it. If you open your locker before 4:30 to retrieve a brush or book or something to do besides sit in a lobby and wait, you will be kicked out into the cold. If you start to ask "how do I...?" you will be yelled at. If you try to ask for the simplest thing, which you MUST ask for, you will be yelled at. This is not an exaggeration and one only has to spend a day there, themselves, to see this in action. Yes, there is an appeal process. You appeal and word comes down the line that you're a trouble maker. You're never seen again. If you think you can go against Paulette, who has been there for years and years, you'll learn what "immovable object" means. If you're homeless through foreclosure, losing your job, sickness, fire or any other reasons, your chances of getting on your feet are much higher if you brave the cold and stay away from Pine Street Inn. By sleeping in the car with a pile of blankets, we were able to make it despite 20 degree weather and worse. If you're reading this as a Pine Street Administrator with a 6-figure salary and $15M in assets, I defy you to spend a single day and night in one of your own shelters (without the staff knowing who you are... maybe hire someone to go in with a video camera?) and not have the desire to fire every single person. By the end of a day, you'll be wondering how best to file a lawsuit. This is the first of several posts I'll be making on the subject. I fully intend to make the Pine Street Inn the poster child for abusive environments... and, yes, we're compiling video and audio. read more

Too bad the other two reviews are from people who volunteered there rather than stayed there, otherwise they'd be giving this horrid homeless shelter the 1 star it deserves. It's dirty, it's dangerous, with uncaring employees who treat the less-fortunate like dirt. Added to which, there's a serious bedbug infestation, below-health-standards food, and a culture of violence that's allowed by the staff. read more

What a terribly run shelter. The staff, for the most part, are disrespectful toward the homeless people that come through there. They make fun of the "guests", talk down to anyone that isn't an employee there. The environment they have created there is not conducive to one wanting to better himself, in fact I believe that the place is incredibly depressing, to the point that one doesn't even want to do anything remotely positive, such as actually walking out the front door onto the street where there is fresh air to breath and opportunity awaits. Pine Street Inn really needs someone, with the power to do something, to step in and fire the people that don't belong there and hire people that actually care and want to help people escape the situation of homelessness. read more

In my current struggles and recent decline in financial status due to lack of income; i became homeless. I had been aware of PineStreet Inn due to working in the field promoting specific social stigma raising educating by raising awareness advocating change. To walk through the doors firstly is a step into change if you are ever in a situation that leaves you stuck. Now, my first thought was eww I didn't want to be affiliated or seen walking into a shelter. Immediately it changed when I got honest with myself first. I was in the same roofless situation as everyone else here. Why did I think I was any better? I needed to empty my cup and say listen, "here is my situation, I've never been here before and I am homeless". That in itself takes a lot, however; I felt compeld to take this journey and truly test my Resilience and practice humbling myself. Let me just say. There is beauty found in this even through a crowd of unknowns and scattered conversations and fast paste of their comfort and happiness. This was very unique. There are so many available aspects to life on the streets but life is our greatest teacher. I personally believe that the establishment needs a shake in the neck. Remember in the beginning I stated; I had never been there before? Well I don't know if I'd ever want to refere someone there who's life has fallen apart and drifted into that area if unknown grounds. There service I recieved from specific front desk and counsilors were beyond unprofessional, lacked the ability effectively communicate or distribute facts and rules even after I repeatedly asked for clarity. Personally my way of learning or feeling welcomed in organizations extent from the energy you get from a worker. The folks who handled my intake seemed to have tossed me to the air as I seemed to have annoyed them or slowed their daily lives. Also during this there were countless interruptions, lack if procedure explanation, as well as wasted time. The lady did my homeless intake at the front desk during the time pinestreet inn is opening its doors for entry and anxiety fell over me as I stood there in a crowded lobby and staff surrounding the desk area it was chaos. To keep myself togetber emotionally I was editing photos in my phone while the lady asked me questions her supervisor proceeded to argue with me, didn't introduce himself thus causing an even grater scene. Nevertheless looking passed the staff in which I feel need a lesson on professionalism and hospitality services. Not everyone who walks through that door has the same reasons why. Take time to welcome and possibly inspire hope. I felt lime it was jail when it shouldn't have been. Change needs to take place. I was handled carelessly. read more