A house of hospitality.
In 1966, Kathe and John McKenna rented a basement apartment in Boston's South End and began taking in the men they found sleeping on the street. They offered a cot and a simple meal—no strings attached—which was often met with skepticism and disbelief among the destitute and freezing men who called Tremont Street their home. Like many others at that time, the McKennas were moved to action by the social, racial, and economic injustice they witnessed, and their inspirations came from radical activists such as Dorothy Day and Mahatma Gandhi.
Haley House soon expanded into a full-service soup kitchen run by a live-in community of volunteers and guests. Today we are an incorporated non-profit organization with many programs that address root causes of joblessness as well as offer vital support to individuals transitioning out of homelessness. Despite our new layers, however, we strive to remain a simple house of hospitality—never giving up on those who find themselves struggling to survive, and offering a cup of coffee, a hot meal, and a listening ear to any and all people who find their way to our doors.