Kip Tiernan
Tiernan never graduated from high school but took college classes on music and learned to play jazz piano.
Rogers department store, fashion writer for Gilchrist's and Popular Merchandising, and editor of PIONEER insurance trade magazine.
[16] On August 8, 1968, Tiernan organized a press conference at St. Philip's Parish in Boston's South End, to commemorate the building's closing.
At the event, she connected with anti-war and civil rights activists, including Daniel Berrigan, Marcos Munos, and members of the Black Panther Party and the United Farm Workers.
The ministry practiced a "political theology of justice, not charity", a core concept Tiernan preached throughout her advocacy work.
Dr. Jim O'Connell, founding physician of Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program, credits Tiernan with instilling this value in BHCHP's practice.
Tiernan toured soup kitchens and shelters in New York, Baltimore, and Chicago and found homeless women were underserved in each place.
Tiernan worked directly and personally with the shelter guests, bringing them to AA meetings, buying them cigarettes, singing in their choir, and bailing them out of jail.
[13][14][22][19][23] In 1977, Rosie's Place moved to a five-story brownstone on Washington Street in Boston’s South End, despite opposition from the Worcester Square Area Neighborhood Association (WSANA).
That year, Rosie's bought a separate building in Dorchester which became their first permanent housing initiative for nine formerly homeless women.
[13][22][14] On April 29, 1984, one week after its ten-year anniversary, Rosie's Place caught fire, which destroyed two floors, caused damage worth $50,000, and displaced 50 women.
Mayor Raymond Flynn and Governor Michael Dukakis visited the scene the day after the fire and stated they would help the organization.
Tiernan didn't publicly blame anyone but in a personal letter that’s part of her archival material, stated, “We were, in the lexicon of the ‘hood, torched.”[13][14][24] Rosie's turned the Washington Street location into housing for 13 formerly homeless women.
[22] In 1986, the Rosie's Place shelter was rebuilt at 889 Harrison Ave, on the land of the original Warwick House, from private and nonprofit donations.
Additions to the building included a new lobby, a larger dining room, showers, telephones, computers, counseling offices, laundry facilities, job boards, and a food pantry.
[26][27][28][29] Tiernan and her advocacy partner, Fran Froehlich, founded, helped found, or were founding members of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, Community Works, Aid to Incarcerated Mothers, Finex House, Food for Free, John Leary House, My Sister’s Place, Transition House, the Greater Boston Union of the Homeless, and Boston’s Emergency Shelter Commission.
Tiernan received an honorary doctorate in human services from the University in 1989, and donated papers representing 35 years of her work to its library in 2006.
[38] Tiernan was a lesbian, "who liked to dress in men’s khakis and a cap, and wore a large cross and skate key on her leather necklace."
Many attended the service, including homeless women, Rosie's place volunteers, Mayor Menino, and Mel King.
[20][46] In 2023, Mayor Wu honored Tiernan for her contributions to starting the Annual Boston Area International Women’s Day Breakfast, a 25-year tradition.
