Posts by Griffin Thomas
Italian Home gave her life!
Italian Home gave her a bed and pajamas, taught her to swim, bike — and live a normal life Diana Dorci never had a bed of her own, pajamas, or knew what Christmas and Easter were until she was 7 years old and her mother dropped her and three of her brothers off at Italian…
Read More2019 Gala Live Auction
True Taste of Italy Prepare for your luxurious Italian vacation with dinner for two and an “Abruzzo, Italy experience” at Lucia Ristorante in the North End. Jet away to Italy and experience the breathtaking scenery and remote city of Sulmona. You and a guest will stay at B&B Sei Stelle overlooking one of the largest…
Read More100th Easter at Italian Home
An Easter Message from Father Riley It’s incredible to think we’ve turned 100! The Italian Home for Children has reached the extraordinary milestone of 100 years of serving children and families in need with uninterrupted distinction. What a 100 years ago was a basic need of caring for the children of Italian families orphaned by…
Read MoreOne Hundred Years of Gatherings!
An evening of bridge and whist at the Sheraton Boston. A “Night of Stars” featuring 25 luminaries of the screen, stage and radio. A concert with famed crooner Perry Como. Reunions for past residents, staff members, friends and volunteers. Like Italian Home itself, the organization’s public events to bolster fundraising and visibility over the past…
Read MoreItalian Home’s Compassionate Roots
The origins of social work in America are thought to be with Hull-House, a settlement house founded by Jane Addams in Chicago in 1889. Settlement houses shared a purpose with social work as a whole: to provide a place where needy people could go and access services such as food, housing, social support, and education. …
Read MoreAt Italian Home, Generations Give Back
Working on behalf of Italian Home for Children has been a true family affair for many Boston-area families. Take James and Robert Tambone. For the past 18 months, James has been one of the members of Italian Home’s Young Leaders Board. “We are a growing group of people in our 20s and 30s looking to…
Read MoreFrom ‘Ward of the State’ to Mayor and State Representative
State Representative Paul Donato stands in his office at the Massachusetts State House and motions toward the framed drawing of the Italian Home nestled onto one of the room’s bookshelves. “Second window on the right on the second floor,” he says, moving closer and touching the image of the Home’s main building. “That’s where I…
Read MoreA Parent’s Childhood Journey
For Janet D’Agostino Boivin and others like her, tools like Ancestry.com have made it easier to research a family’s genealogy – and come to a better understanding of a parent’s childhood journey that included a stay at the Italian Home. Janet’s mother Mary Ranieri (or Maria, as she is listed on the 1930 census that…
Read MoreNo child should be invisible
Last December, a group of wonderful volunteers spent the entire day adorning the dorms with holiday decorations. They did a great job by carefully personalizing the décor with each child’s first name. When the children came home from school, they were amazed by the transformation in their living space. One young girl’s face lit up with…
Read More“Where Compassion Meets Promise” for 100 years
A catastrophic flu swept across the world in 1918, killing 675,000 in the US in a few weeks and 25 million worldwide. It struck young adults between ages 20-40 particularly harshly, orphaning thousands of children and spreading rapidly in immigrant communities like Boston’s North End, where hardworking people lived in extremely close quarters. Enter Fr.…
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