Sanctuary: Kip Tiernan and Rosie's Place, the Nation's First Shelter for Women

“Who decides who gets the condo and who gets the cardboard box?”This and other pithy quotes from Kip Tiernan, advertising executive turned founder of Rosie’s Place, captures the energy and drive of the woman who brought sanctuary to homeless women, helped start Boston Health Care for the Homeless, and began the Greater Boston Food Bank to put food in the mouths of generations of needy families.In dramatic and relatable scenes, Christine McDonnell threads the experiences of a young girl who carried soup to victims of the Great Depression lined up outside her grandmother’s kitchen door to the young woman who noticed otherwise invisible women searching for food in trash cans and bundled on benches, women who had to disguise themselves as men to get a meal and a bed at shelters. Again and again, Tiernan was told that homelessness was not a women’s problem. Again and again, she told Boston city officials they were wrong.From Tiernan’s own words, children will learn that “sometimes all you need is just plain stubborn hope” to achieve necessary goals.Illustrator Victoria Tentler-Krylov moves McDonnell’s scenes from a rich but muted Depression palette to an ever-brightening palette of hope forged by Tiernan’s efforts and successes.Backmatter elaborates with clear language and points in a non-didactic manner to the continued need for social activism.This book is an essential resource for educating children to be responsible citizens.

I hadn't heard of Kip Tiernan before reading this book, and that is exactly why we need picture books like this out in the world! Beautifully written, and tells an important story.

The story of Kip Tiernan’s life began in the Great Depression. From the time she was a small girl she helped her grandmother serve soup to those in need. She witnessed her grandmother, who had very little, share food and clothing with anyone who needed it. When Kip asked why, her grandmother replied “we’re a lot better off than the people who come to our door.” This experience stayed with her as she became an adult. She remembered the lessons she learned in her grandmother’s house and made the decision to sell her advertising business and join the staff at the Warwick House, which fed the hungry, helped kids in trouble, gave money for rent, and perhaps best of all, listened.But she soon discovered a disturbing fact as she served the people in line. Women needed to disguise themselves as men in order to eat. This was because, even though Kip saw women all over Boston sleeping in doorways and pushing baskets with their worldly belongings, homelessness was not considered a women’s problem. Thus, Kip was inspired to open the first shelter in the United States, just for women called Rosie’s Place. It offered hot meals, clothing and most of all women weren’t “...criticized for being poor or dirty, or sick or alone or lonely.” As the years passed, Kip also helped to start Boston Health Care for the Homeless, to create the Greater Boston Food Bank and to push for solutions to homelessness.This warm story shows us how, because of Kip's compassion and tenacity, one person can make a huge difference, which leads to great things. It’s the perfect introduction to a homelessness, as well as another example of an inspiring woman from history. Thank you to Candlewick Press for sharing this inspiring story with me.

This book is wonderful! I loved reading about Kip Tiernan and the first shelter for women. It's informative, thoughtful, and beautifully illustrated.

This is an amazing story about an amazing woman who created a sanctuary for homeless women as well as the Greater Boston Food Bank. This was an amazing story and an amazing woman that stood up for so many for so many years and made the world around her that much better.