News
Heading Home Scores
May 10, 2010
| On Thursday, the real estate industry and its friends turned out 550 strong at International Place for the Heading Home Gala to raise money, sip cocktails and enjoy food prepared by 15 area restaurants (Redbones' ribs to Hamersley's seafood salad). The partying had the same goal as Heading Home: to end homelessness permanently. |
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| Intercontinental Real Estate's Nick Iselin, Heading Home's board chairman, told the crowd (which extended around the rotunda) how the non-profit works with its 1,800 clients. HH provides immediate shelter in group houses or apartments, social services, help to access job training and placement in permanent housing. As Nick said, they have an impressive success rate in preventing clients from becoming homeless again. It took a while to get the partiers' attention but eventually the guests quieted down and delivered $455k in donations that go directly to client programs. That surpassed HH's goal of $400k. Way to go, property people! |
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| Heading Home client Maria Rivera took to the podium with her four sons and Gala co-chairs Mary and John Fowler of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, Maria says after her youngest was hit by a car she had to quit her job to care for him and subsequently became homeless for 3 months. She connected with HH for shelter, job training and English language training. Two weeks ago, HH helped her move into her own apartment in Dorchester. Although claiming she was nervous about public speaking, she got the crowd to their feet and cheering when she said, "Now I can tell my sons, "Yes I can." |
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| Early in the evening, we snapped International Place landlord Don Chiofaro and TRO Jung l Brannen's Karen Van Winkle digging into the goodies. Don, who is locking horns with Mayor Menino over his proposal to build a high rise on the Greenway, had a chance to make some new friends by providing his lobby space for the party. Later as the festivities gathered steam, Adage Capital's Phil Gross made some friends of his own by taking advantage of the good spirited hatred between the Red Sox and Yankees. Extemporaneously, he put up for auction VIP Board Room tix for a Boston - New York game raising $15k. As Heading Home's Wendy Jacobs said, that old rivalry became "an added bonus." |
