CEO Corner: What Independence Really Means

Every July, the country pauses to celebrate independence. At Hearth, we hold that word a little differently, because we see what it means to lose it and what it takes to win it back.

For an older adult who has spent months without a stable place to live, independence is not an abstraction. It is a door that locks. A kitchen of your own. A bed you do not have to give up when the sun comes up. It is choosing what to cook, when to rest, and who to let in. Homelessness strips all of that away, and it takes a toll on health that deepens with every week a person goes without a home. The two move together. When we lead with housing, the rest becomes possible. A stable home is where independence begins, and where health, dignity, and community can finally take root.

Hearth is the first and only organization in Greater Boston working solely to end older adult homelessness. That focus shapes everything we do. We meet people where they are through outreach. We work to prevent homelessness before it starts. We provide permanent supportive housing built for how older adults actually live. And through Ruggles Assisted Living, the only deeply affordable assisted living in Massachusetts, we make sure that independence in later life does not depend on wealth. Each part of that continuum exists for one reason. Older adults deserve to age in a place of their own, with support close at hand.

Carol, a Hearth resident, says: “I remember one time I had gone in town shopping and I looked at my watch and I was automatically, it was like, oh, I need to get back to the shelter. And then I was like, wait, I have a key. I have an apartment. I can stay out as long as I want because I have my own place.”

I think about residents like this often. People who had been told, in a hundred quiet ways, that they were on their own. What changed for them was not luck. It was a community that decided they were worth seeing.

That is the invitation this July. Notice the older adults in your own neighborhood. Talk about older adult homelessness as the solvable problem it is. And if you are able, help us keep doors opening.

One of the simplest ways to do that is the Kindling Club, our monthly giving community. A recurring gift, at any level, keeps this work steady through the months when public attention fades and the need does not. Independence is not something anyone reclaims alone. Thank you for helping us build a region where every older adult can.

With gratitude,

Rhonda Pieroni

President and CEO, Hearth