Rosie's Place will bring its signature Funny Women...Serious Business luncheon back to Boston's Hynes Convention Center on November 19, with New York Times bestselling author Lara Love Hardin headlining the event. The gathering benefits a shelter for homeless women, which now serves nearly 15,000 poor and homeless women each year across Greater Boston.
Hardin is the author of The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing and Healing, a bestseller that was selected for Oprah's Book Club in 2024, according to WCVB. Beyond the Oprah pick, Hardin's memoir, which recounts her recovery from opioid addiction and incarceration, earned her a Christopher Award along with nominations for an NAACP Image Award and a Dayton Literary Peace Prize, per Rosie's Place.
Hardin joins a lineup of past keynote speakers who have brought literary heft to the event year after year. Rachel Louise Snyder spoke in 2025, and Stephanie Land, author of Maid, took the stage in 2024, the organization's newsletter notes. Those speeches have consistently centered on themes of trauma, economic survival, and recovery, carrying forward a tradition the luncheon has built over decades.
A Record-Breaking Year for the Luncheon
Last year's luncheon raised a record $1.015 million, topping the $1 million mark set during the shelter's 50th-anniversary event in 2024. That 2024 milestone featured Land as keynote speaker, and the steady growth reflects the luncheon's expanding financial scale and corporate backing.
The fundraiser carries extra weight because Rosie's Place accepts zero city, state, or federal government funding, relying entirely on private donations, corporate support, and events like this one to keep its doors open. The policy traces back to the shelter's founding in 1974, meant to prevent public policy constraints or political shifts from dictating how it operates. Of every dollar raised, the organization says 84 cents goes directly to client services and community programs, a figure that has helped it earn a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.
From a South End Supermarket to a Full Service Center
Rosie's Place serves women experiencing homelessness in Boston.
Programs and Services for Women Rosie's Place provides programs and services aimed at bringing dignity, sanctuary, and opportunity to women.
Rosie's Place has also drawn support from local businesses winding down operations. Discount retailer Frugal Fannie's made charitable contributions to the shelter before permanently closing its Westwood store after 43 years, a move Hoodline reported on in September.
Local Gains Collide With Statewide Pressure
The luncheon lands against a complicated backdrop for homelessness in Massachusetts. Boston's 2026 Point-in-Time count identified 3,674 individuals experiencing homelessness on a single night in January, a 33 percent decline from 2025 and a 19 percent drop since 2021, according to data reported by Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program. BHCHP president Jim O’Connell discussed the city's housing-first approach and coordinated entry system.
The same count found overall homelessness had declined 19 percent since 2021. But the statewide picture tells a different story. HUD Point-in-Time data showed 29,360 individuals experienced homelessness across Massachusetts on any given night in 2024, a 38.9 percent increase since 2015, driven in part by rising housing costs and the expiration of emergency rental protections, according to a fact sheet from the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
That gap between Boston's progress and the state's broader housing strain underscores why fundraisers like Funny Women...Serious Business remain central to Rosie's Place's mission. With no government dollars in its budget, the shelter's ability to keep expanding its food pantry, legal aid, and job training programs depends almost entirely on turnout at events like next month's luncheon at the Hynes Convention Center.
