Host Organization Highlight: Pine Street Inn

Semester in the City provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; our hands-on internship program allows students to develop professionally, receive mentorship from a social sector professional, and make a difference in people’s lives all while living in Boston with like-minded students. Our program is not only beneficial to students, but social impact sector organizations looking to help increase their capacity and inspire the next generation of problem-solvers.

The following blog post is an interview with one of our previous amazing Student Fellow Mentors, Deborah Putnam, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives at Pine Street Inn. Here we learn about Pine Street Inn’s mission and impact, Deborah’s role as Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, and her experience as a mentor with our Student Fellows!

*Note parts of this interview have be edited and condensed for clarity

Could you tell me a little bit about Pine Street Inn’s mission and the impact it has on those you work with?

Deborah: We are over 50 years old, and our organization works to end homelessness. That's our ultimate goal; we work with homeless adults, not families. There's a distinction between the people who serve families and the people who serve adults in the homelessness world. So, we serve single adults -- men and women. We're the largest provider of permanent supportive housing in Boston; we have about 850 units of housing around the city, mostly in Boston and Brookline, where we provide housing for people with histories of homelessness.

We are moving away from the shelter model. For a long time, shelters were the main strategy to end homelessness, but shelters are for emergency situations. So, the focus now is housing and how to expand that number of 850 units, and/or work with partners where we can either provide the support services, or whatever it is to help move people into more stability. 

We serve about 7,000 people a year and we have about 850 units of housing and four shelters – five right now, because of COVID-19 to provide additional space and social distancing. We also have various programs along the way that help to individualize a housing action plan to help folks access housing in whatever way that means for them. Maybe it's a group home if you have a history of using substances and you need a recovery home. Maybe it's your own apartment in a subsidized unit. Maybe it's a market rate unit. It can be a variety of things depending on needs and resources available. As you know, Boston is an expensive place to live, and there aren't enough affordable units, so we really try and be creative.

Can you tell me a little about your role as Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives?

Deborah: It’s a really fun and unique role, with two big buckets. One is I help research and plan new ways to end homelessness. We may develop an idea internally because one of the staff identifies a need or we hear someone else is doing it somewhere in the country. Those initiatives usually come to my office in some form, and I help the other senior directors think about them. I act as a thought partner, and do research and planning, look at the financial implications, and write up a business plan with a recommendation and an explanation. If we decide to do it, I help launch it. I don't oversee the program generally but I help to get everything ready through the partnership agreements, financial aspects, or whatever else has to go into place. 

So that's one big bucket, and the other is I supervise the Program Evaluation Department. We have a staff of five people, and they work to assess all of our work with the data that we use to make sure we are doing the right thing for the people we serve. We have a lot of information about people in terms of age, race, ethnicity, where they lived before, what housing they had and when. That department helps to crunch that information to assist the staff in understanding "What are we doing well?" "What are the gaps?" "What could we be doing better?" And we provide the information to funders, the board of directors and the public, such as through the website.

I know you mentioned you don't directly oversee things that are put into place, but has there been a point in your role where you got to see firsthand the impact that Pine Street Inn was having in providing housing?

Deborah: We have an approach where, if somebody comes to our shelter for the first time, they engage with someone right away in what we call "Housing Problem Solving Conversations.'' If they are in a housing crisis and don't have a place to stay that night someone will meet with them and talk to figure out options and see if shelter is the best option, because in many times it's not. It's just the default. People think "Oh, I'm homeless I have to get to a shelter," but it's not always the best option for folks, especially if they just came out of a hospital or have a crisis with a family member that can be knitted back together, at least partially. 

We launched that program, and after a couple years, the staff said we should try this by phone because a lot of people call here and we're doing the same thing that we're doing in-person. It makes it easier because they don't have to come here first; especially for discharge planners at hospitals because in some ways we get discharges with people who were just dropped off without thinking about other, better options. 

I helped to launch a phone line last fall. We were testing it out when COVID happened; then  it became a lifeline. Now we have an established phone number that people call, and it's known in the community that folks can call ahead of time to see if shelter is the right option. We track the number of calls, and we get about 100 a week from individuals, as well as providers. That was one of the recent experiences with something that I helped with that seems to have made a good difference in terms of getting that information earlier and helping people make decisions that may prevent a shelter stay.

What brought you into working for the social impact center and what keeps you going or motivated?

Deborah: It was always an interest of mine to make a difference. I always wanted to work with people; that was the way that I thought about the world, so I was following my own instincts. I think there's so many interesting people working in this field from all different disciplines and sectors. No two days are the same. I enjoy both big picture thinking as well as the detailed thinking that connects to the big picture. [I also enjoy] colleagues, meeting new people and recognizing the small wins. You can't change things overnight, so little steps ahead are really great!

In being a mentor and working with SITC and CFSI, what is it about CFSI that [interests] you?

Anna Divelbiss (Fall 2019 Student Fellow) - Pine Street Inn

Deborah: It's really fun to have undergrad students -- I've been a supervisor for graduate students before. There's something about undergrad students. They are younger and less experienced so there is a little bit more TLC sometimes they need to know things like "No, you have to put your phone away. You have to turn it over. Turn off the notifications." It's just a generational thing, but it's also a general workplace thing -- at least in our workplace. So, things like that, which I actually find fun - to help young people understand the work environment. 

Students are always keeping us on our toes and asking clarifying or challenging questions helps me think about my work in a new way.  I appreciate seeing growth of the fellows during the semester: the confidence they build and the experience they have at PSI that grounds them in whatever next steps they choose to take. 

You mentioned taking pleasure in being able to kind of shape these young students' professional careers and giving them the skills to succeed. Can you talk more about what are some of the professional skills that you think students have been able to learn by interning with Pine Street Inn?

Deborah: I think the biggest one is showing up and being present and getting to a meeting on time with a pen and paper and be an active participant. Those sound like basic things but for a lot of students this may have been a first job outside of flipping burgers; those kinds of basic professional skills are really important. Thinking ahead of time, scheduling things in your calendar. If you can't make a meeting or deadline it's okay, but you should send an email to let others know; strong workplace skills are key. 

I think another one is critical thinking. For example, a staff member needed background on how the criminal justice system works in Massachusetts. A student who was a criminal justice major in undergrad had previous knowledge. So, the student went in and started creating a word doc. She started writing and we had to go back and forth a little bit on the framing of it and how to present it in a clear way to someone who is busy but who needs some key points, especially how the system intersects with homelessness, which is a lot. So writing skills, critical thinking, presentation, organization, and then a couple of students hadn't worked with Excel before so that was new [skills for them].

In being a mentor, has it in any way changed how you view your work at the Pine Street Inn?

Taylor Barclay (Spring 2019 Student Fellow) - Pine Street Inn

Deborah: I think in the moment, it makes me break down the work into steps or categories. When a student organized a voter registration drive at Pine Street, we mapped out what that would entail in a big way. So, it makes me pause and think through what we are doing, and why, and make sure it connects to the greater mission. It helps me check and see how important things are in the scheme of things. I always think everything is important, but it's the level of importance. 

It makes me pause and look at my work and our work, and I think questions and great conversations with students come from this. “Why are we doing it this way?” “Could it be done differently?” I think those are enriching and deepening conversations.

If you could give any professional advice to any up and coming professional trying to enter the social impact sector, what would it be?

Deborah: I would say two things: keep an open mind and trust your gut because every place is different. Stay flexible and try new things. Then, I would say to push ourselves to racial equity. It's easy for us to not address it, even now when there is more public discussion and opportunities to learn, but we have to keep pushing it. Everyone will be better off in a more equitable society. So that's my third thing.

What would you say to other places in the social impact sector who are considering hosting a student for a Semester in the City?

Deborah:  The students are fresh and young and excited; they typically are flexible and they need a bit of guidance. The other thing about CFSI is there is a whole framework behind it. [The students] have colleagues/fellows in other organizations so they can compare notes. Then I think some of the conversations in the CFSI curriculum are really helpful for the student in terms of framing what it is that we're doing as social change. Sometimes it's a stretch for students to get it because our language might be different, but it's helpful to know that they're talking about human-centered design or the importance of narratives and stories.