Tag Archive for: Housing

MassPACE Joins Healey-Driscoll Administration Roundtable Discussion with Health Care Leaders on the Impact of the Housing Crisis on Public Health

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This was originally posted on LinkedIn. Read the post here.

Last Thursday, MassPACE’s Executive Director, Jennifer Maynard, had the honor of participating in a crucial roundtable discussion alongside Governor Healey, Lt. Governor Driscoll, and distinguished leaders like Health and Human Service Secretary Kate Walsh and Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus. The focus? The indispensable link between housing and healthcare.

Moderated by Secretaries Walsh and Augustus, the “Housing is Health Care” roundtable brought together industry experts, including representatives from hospitals, community health centers, and organizations like MassPACE. Together, they delved into the challenges healthcare providers and communities face due to the lack of affordable housing and its impact on patient outcomes.

Governor Healey rightly underscored the Affordable Homes Act’s potential to enhance public health and equity through investments in rehabilitating public housing, expanding supportive housing, and promoting environmental justice. Secretary Walsh brought up PACE as a solution to keep people in their homes, ensuring they can age in place. Upham’s Community Care CEO Jay Trivedi emphasized the vital role PACE plays in bridging healthcare and housing.

During Jenn’s remarks, she cited the new opening of 2Life’s JJ Carroll Senior Housing complex, which has a PACE day center built on the first floor. Jenn shared with the group information on our report on Considerations for Combining PACE with Housing, completed with the help of EOEA and Leading Age. The report details some of the different partnerships that exist between PACE and senior housing, such as supportive housing, rest homes, assisted living, housing authorities, and more. Some of these partnerships within senior housing have embedded 24/7 staff members in case residents need services to remain at home.

Jenn expressed our hope is to encourage housing partners, to continue to incorporate integrated comprehensive solutions— that bring housing and healthcare together to address the social determinants of health. PACE programs are committed to their mission of keeping people in the community and need these critical resources to support the aging population. She urged those at the table to explore opportunities such as re-purposing of closed senior care communities to infuse more housing now.

We are happy Jenn was there to add the perspective of aging adults. As we tackle the housing crisis in Massachusetts, we all need to work together, so communities can support folks as their needs change.

On behalf of: Upham’s Community Care Fallon Health Summit Eldercare Element Care PACE Neighborhood PACE Cambridge Health Alliance PACE, Trinity Health PACE Serenity Care Harbor Health Services, Inc. PACE

Thank you:Office of Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey
Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services

Considerations for Combining PACE with Housing

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In recent years, there has been a recognition of the importance of social determinants of health, including the impact of where a person lives on their overall health and well-being. This is especially true for older adults, for whom safe, accessible, housing with integrated health and long-term care services (such as home care, housekeeping, and nutrition support) is the key to remaining in the community.

Housing providers have been increasingly interested in seeking programs and developing relationships aimed at enabling older residents to remain safely in their homes for as long as possible. In Massachusetts, there are many organizations that operate programs designed to assist older adults. These range from organizations that provide companionship, villages that support affinity groups, home health agencies that provide in-home assistance with activities of daily living, adult day health centers, adult foster care, and care coordination programs.

The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) offers all these services and more and has proven to be a valuable partner to housing agencies that operate affordable housing for older adults.

Massachusetts recently launched an initiative to expand PACE to every zip code in the Commonwealth, making this an ideal time for housing agencies to learn more about PACE and PACE-Housing Partnerships.

There are already many PACE-Housing partnerships in place across the state, and while these models can vary in their design and structure, all PACE-Housing models seek to maximize the ability of residents to remain in their homes through access to housing stabilization services, enhanced support, health-related services, and collaboration between PACE Organizations and housing partners.

This document is designed to introduce and provide examples of PACE-Housing partnerships to stakeholders in the housing arena (e.g., landlords, property managers, developers, etc.), and to highlight opportunities for housing agencies to further support tenants through relationships with PACE Organizations.

Continue reading this article by downloading the Considerations for Combining PACE with Housing PDF here.

Aging with Dignity in a Supportive Community

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On June 2, 2022, 2Life Communities, Element Care, and partner organizations and funders launched the construction for the redevelopment of the J.J. Carroll BHA building that will have 142 additional affordable units for older adults in Brighton

It was a beautiful day on Chestnut Hill Avenue in Brighton, where old and new colleagues gathered around the construction site of the John J. Carroll apartments. The Boston Housing Authority, 2Life Communities, and its partners, including MassHousing, the City of Boston, and Element Care PACE gathered in celebration of the unveiling of the redevelopment of the property. The building was chosen for modernization and currently holds 64 units; the new construction plans will create 142 new units and an 11,000-square-foot PACE center.

Amy Schectman, 2Life’s President and CEO, led the ceremony and started the event by bringing to the stage the city’s new Mayor, Michelle Wu. As a longtime housing advocate, Mayor Wu celebrated the planning process, which was inclusive of its residents in the design process. She then applauded the team’s collaborative efforts, choosing to partner with Element Care to include a PACE center on-site, ensuring these residents can age in place with the services they need. She closed her speech by switching to Spanish to ensure everyone heard her message.


L-R: Jennifer Crampton, Wells Fargo; Mayor Michelle Wu, Secretary Marylou Sudders

Secretary Marylou Sudders of the MA Executive Office of Health and Human Services followed Mayor Wu, stressing the importance of upholding the value of respect. She described how we respect our older adults by ensuring they have affordable housing and long-term care in their community. She praised 2Life for its creativity and innovation and for making it a priority for residents to remain in their communities, stay active, be taken care of and thrive. Secretary Sudders, a supporter of the PACE model, described her vision of having more PACE/Housing partnerships: “We are taking this model across the State, we can do it in Boston, and we plan to do it across the Commonwealth.”

Undersecretary Jennifer Maddox of the MA Department of Housing and Community Development echoed Secretary Sudders’ praises for the PACE model of care for older adults, “a few retire in Florida, [but] most want to stay in the community with family and friends.” Amy Schectman described how PACE shares 2Life’s goal of focusing on “holistic and preventive care” and keeping residents in their units, adapting as they age, based on need.


At the Podium, Bob Wakefield of Element Care

MassPACE’s longest-serving Board Member and Executive Director of the Element Care PACE program, Bob Wakefield, closed the event with key takeaways – the importance of affordable housing, the strength of the PACE model, and collaborative efforts like the JJ Carroll renovation, that combine the two visions. Bob describes the JJ Carroll project as a particularly innovative partnership that he believes will “address the social determinants of health on a scale that has never been seen before.” With on-site amenities such as an urgent care center, Bob believes we are one step closer to eliminating the need for long-term care facilities.

The event’s energy was contagious. The group of people gathered at the event were those who worked day-in and day-out during the pandemic to ensure those they served avoided the deadly COVID-19 virus. Their tireless efforts allowed them to form and strengthen connections. Together, they are creating an inclusive and supportive environment that gives older adults the respect they deserve. 2Life’s board chair, Jeffery Sach, summarized the project ‘s mission: “to encourage aging with dignity in a supportive community.”