Our Mission
Ending Older Adult Homelessness
Since 1991, Hearth has helped more than 3,000 older adults in Greater Boston find safety, stability, and a place to call home.
What is Hearth?
Hearth is a Boston nonprofit built on a belief that has guided us for over three decades: you cannot be healthy if you do not have a home.
Since 1991, Hearth has been the first and only organization in the region solely dedicated to ending homelessness among older adults. Through Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), Outreach, Prevention, and advocacy, Hearth provides housing solutions and Stabilization services that help older adults remain housed, healthy, and connected to their communities. Not only do we provide housing for older adults who may face housing instability, but we support them with ongoing services to ensure they make successful transitions in their new home, demonstrating that long-term Stabilization services improve health outcomes, reduce strain on emergency systems, and create pathways to lasting housing stability.
Our Mission
Hearth is a non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of homelessness among the elderly. This mission is accomplished through a unique blend of prevention, placement, and housing programs all designed to help elders find and succeed in homes of their own.
To this end, all housing operated by Hearth provides a creative array of supportive services that assist residents to age with dignity, regardless of their special medical, mental health, or social needs. Hearth believes these goals are best accomplished through respect for elders and staff, with the desire to see both achieve their highest degree of potential.
Hearth’s Commitment to Equity
Hearth commits to upholding the fundamental principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging as the cornerstone of our mission. Our core objective is to eliminate elder homelessness by ensuring equitable access to affordable housing and supportive services.
Our approach is firmly rooted in the values of partnership and collaboration, placing a strong emphasis on self-determination, autonomy, and the intrinsic worth of every individual we interact with, employ, and serve.
“The hungry should be fed. The homeless should be housed. The sick should be cared for. And our elders should be cherished, nurtured, and able to live out their lives with independence and grace.”
Hearth’s seven founders, 1991.
To date, nearly 3,000 elders housed.
How Hearth Responds To Older Adult Homelessness
Hearth’s work reaches older adults at every stage. Whether someone is sleeping on the street, facing an eviction, or settling into their first stable home in years, our team is there with services that meet people where they are.
Hearth Housing
228 units of permanent supportive housing and assisted living across 7 Boston locations, each staffed by nurses, social workers, and case managers.
Outreach
Outreach case managers find and build trust with older adults aged 50+ who are living unsheltered or in shelters, connecting them to housing and services.
Prevention
Housing stabilization, financial assistance, and case management to support older adults in staying housed before a crisis becomes homelessness.
The Growing Crisis of Older Adult Homelessness
Across the United States, older adults and seniors are the fastest-growing group among people experiencing homelessness. In Boston, nearly one in four adults in shelters is over 55. Behind every statistic is a person: a parent, a grandparent, a neighbor who worked their whole life and still could not afford to keep a roof overhead.
They are former teachers and lawyers, veterans and caregivers. Some face a sudden illness. Others have spent years navigating mental health challenges with nowhere safe to land. What they share is this: they did not choose homelessness, and they deserve more than survival.
300%
Projected increase in homelessness among adults 50+ in the next decade
33%
Percentage of current workers who will likely rely solely on Social Security for all of their retirement income.
0
U.S. states where the average Social Security payment covers a one-bedroom apartment
204,191
Number of sheltered homeless older adults in the U.S. who are aged 51 to 61.
$10,248
The gap between the Massachusetts Economic Security Standard of $27,048 and the median income (excluding SSI and public assistance) of $16,800 is the largest faced by elders anywhere in the United States.
146K+
Older adults (55+) were counted as homeless nationally in the most recent HUD Point-in-Time count (2024)
A great resource for finding facts specific to your state or city is the HUD Homelessness Data Exchange website. On the Public Reports page, you can request information for a specific state, region, or city using data from various HUD programs.
Our Story: Over 30 Years of Fighting Elder Homelessness In Boston
In 1991, seven women in Boston came together around a question that still drives our work: “How can you be healthy if you don’t have a home?” Sandra Albright, Anna Bissonnette, Joanne Bluestone, Ruth Cowin, Ellen Feingold, Elsie Frank, and Diana Laskin Siegal believed the answer was simple: you can’t. So they built something to change it.
1991
The Committee to End Elder Homelessness is founded. Hearth opens its first building with 9 units of supportive housing.
Early 2000’s
Hearth expands across Boston neighborhoods, adding permanent supportive housing in Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and Charlestown.
2006
Hearth at Burroughs Street opens in Jamaica Plain: 14 units of congregate-style housing where residents share common spaces and support one another.
2021
Hearth at Four Corners opens in Dorchester with 54 units, marking an expansion into homelessness prevention for low-income and middle-income older adults.
Today
What began with seven women and nine units of housing has grown into the only organization in Greater Boston dedicated exclusively to ending homelessness among older adults. Three programs working across the full spectrum of need: preventing homelessness before it starts, reaching people living on the streets, and providing permanent homes where older adults can age with stability and dignity.
7
Buildings
228
Housing Units
630+
Residents & Clients
84
Staff
Every Older Adult Deserves a Place to Call Home
Your support funds housing, outreach, and prevention programs that change lives of vulnerable older adults in Greater Boston.