Wellesley resident honored for work at Boston women’s shelter

Wellesley resident Connie Smith has been honored at this month’s Massachusetts Conference for Women in Boston for her work with the Women’s Lunch Place, a Boston women and children’s daytime shelter.

Smith received this year’s “Be the Change” award in recognition for the art therapy program she runs at the shelter.

She said during her speech at the event, before an assembly of 7,000 attendees, that “We have a beautiful art room where art flourishes every day. The women learn to knit, sew, paint, draw, write and do crafts, photography and jewelry. They say it transports them to a calming place and a place where they can express themselves. I never realized how powerful art can be until I got involved in the creative expressions program.”