Sharing in a Zipcar: Our visit to Rosie’s Place

A home for Boston’s most vulnerable women 

Founded on Easter Sunday 1974, Rosie’s Place was the first women-only shelter in the United States. The shelter takes no city, state, or federal funds and counts on donations to maintain its independence. 

The word “shelter" doesn’t quite do Rosie’s Place justice. The multi-service community center provides emergency and ongoing support—everything from food programs to legal service—and overnight shelter to women struggling with homelessness and poverty. Guests are as young as 18 and as old as 80, and about 1/3 of them come with children. 

Using Zipcars to give back 

As part of our Women’s History Month Celebration, our DriveHer employee resource group organized a collection drive to support Rosie’s Place in Boston. And employees from all over the country sent their donations.  

On the last Monday in March, a team from our home office drove a convoy of Zipcars to drop off trunk loads of personal care essentials, like body wash and shampoo, plus socks and underwear.  

“We are grateful to our friends at Zipcar for their thoughtful and impactful support of the Rosie’s Place community,” said Leemarie Mosca, Rosie’s Place President and CEO. “Their generous donation of essential care items helps us provide the essential comfort and dignity that our guests deserve.” 

After the trip, the feeling was unanimous: of all the ways you can use a Zipcar, giving back is one of the most rewarding. 

“As a Zipcar employee, it felt really good to use our cars to deliver donations to Rosie’s Place in Boston, said Greta Reinhold, Senior Manager of Business Operations and Internal Communications. “It’s a great reminder of how we can all help out and make a difference in our local communities, even in small ways.” 

Now that’s the kind of thinking (and driving) we can all get behind.