BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Pine Street Inn did its part to make the holidays a little brighter for Boston's homeless community Tuesday.
Dozens of volunteers prepared and served Christmas Eve meals of lasagna, Caesar salad, garlic bread, and pie for about 1,000 people, while carolers from the non-profit Ripples of Hope sang songs.
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"If there’s any time you need faith, it’s when you’re homeless and you’re in a shelter for the holidays," Pine Street Inn President and Executive Director Lyndia Downie told the crowd. "Not many people want to be spending their holiday in a shelter. Not exactly what you dreamed of when you were a kid and not exactly where you thought you’d end up. Everything else out there is about going home and spending time with family and goodness and light. Well, that’s not what happens to everybody."
According to Downie, the demand for shelter space is up "about 24 percent over last year, which means on a given night, we’re seeing anywhere from 110 to as many as 160 more people than we saw about a year ago."
To help keep up with demand, Pine Street Inn has added 160 more beds and opened an overnight warming center, Downie said.
Those in attendance also heard from new Archbishop of Boston Richard Henning, as well as Donald, a former homeless man who now lives in his own apartment.
"I’m spending Christmas in my own place," Donald said. "My grandchildren are coming over, my family’s coming. It can’t get no better than this. The words can’t describe it at all."
WBZ's Suzanne Sausville (@WBZSausville) reports.