About Us

The S.W.A.N. Society in Boston (Senior Women At Need Society in Boston), formerly The Widows’ Society in Boston, was founded in 1816 and incorporated in 1828.

The founders’ goal was to provide assistance to single and widowed women who wished to maintain their independence but lacked the financial means to do so.

In this spirit, the S.W.A.N. Society in Boston distributes individual grants to senior, single women living in or around the Boston area in need of financial assistance with the goal of helping these women to live independently with dignity. Additionally, we award large grants to non-profit organizations who share our goal of supporting elderly single women facing daunting financial challenges.

We are non-profit, non-denominational, and non-sectarian.

The S.W.A.N. Society is supported solely through investment income and individual contributions which allows us a great deal of flexibility for the types of individual grants we can distribute.

S.W.A.N. Board Officers

President and First Director: Rachel Mulhern

Second Director: Sarah Richards

Third Director: Lucy Goreham

Treasurer: Jason Crawshaw

Assistant Treasurer: Kathleen Jacobs

Secretary: Eleanor Marsh

Executive Director: Corey Bisceglia-Kane, LICSW