BOSTON - Harvard Medical School affiliate Hebrew SeniorLife, New England’s largest nonprofit provider of senior health care and living communities,  today announced that it has closed on the financing to build 45 new units of affordable senior housing at the Simon C. Fireman Community in Randolph. Currently, the Simon C. Fireman Community offers 160 senior apartments with supportive services.

With a low-income housing tax credit investment from the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC) and support from several other funders, Hebrew SeniorLife’s new construction starts this week. The resulting apartments will be 100 percent affordable, with 27 units for households earning up to 60 percent of Area Median Income (AMI), four for households earning up to 50 percent AMI, and 14 for households at or below 30 percent AMI. 

The new three-story wing will be fully integrated with Simon C. Fireman’s existing residences, sharing the same lobby, and creating two courtyards with walking paths, exercise stations, and benches. Other amenities include a multi-purpose room, a fitness center, office space, an art/game room, a deck overlooking the courtyard, a library, and a lounge. The expansion will be built to high sustainability and energy efficient Passive House standards. 

“This project is absolutely the very best way to fulfill our mission to provide older people of all backgrounds and economic levels the opportunity to live their best lives in the best place,” said Lou Woolf, President and CEO, Hebrew SeniorLife. “More supportive, affordable housing for seniors is a huge need in Massachusetts, and adding these additional apartments to this already vibrant and diverse community is a wonderful step forward.”

“We applaud Hebrew SeniorLife’s commitment to expanding access to quality, affordable senior homes,” noted Joe Flatley, MHIC President & CEO. “MHIC was proud to provide financing for the Simon C. Fireman Community as well as Hebrew SeniorLife’s new development on Leyland Street in Dorchester, which closed in early February. We offer our congratulations for moving forward with both important properties.” 

Hebrew SeniorLife would like to express appreciation to its partners and funders of this project:

• The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development
• The Town of Randolph
• Massachusetts Housing Partnership
• Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation
• Boston Private Bank & Trust/Silicon Valley Bank
• Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation
• MassHousing

Hebrew SeniorLife would also like to recognize Affirmative Investments, ICON Architecture, Bald Hill Builders, Nixon Peabody LLP, Tierney Development Services, and Linnean Solutions.

About the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation
Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC) is an innovative financier of affordable housing and community development throughout New England, providing financing that would not otherwise be available to neighborhoods most in need.  For over 31 years, MHIC has invested more than $3.1 billion to help create and sustain healthy, equitable communities where people, businesses, and organizations can thrive. To date, MHIC has financed 636 developments, representing more than 24,500 homes and 6.2 million sq. ft. of commercial space. Visit www.mhic.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.  

About Hebrew SeniorLife
Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is a national senior services leader uniquely dedicated to rethinking, researching, and redefining the possibilities of aging. Hebrew SeniorLife cares for more than 3,000 seniors a day across six campuses throughout Greater Boston. Our locations include: Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-Boston and Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-NewBridge in Dedham; NewBridge on the Charles, Dedham; Orchard Cove, Canton; Simon C. Fireman Community, Randolph; Center Communities of Brookline, Brookline; and Jack Satter House, Revere. Founded in 1903, Hebrew SeniorLife also conducts influential research into aging at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research. It also trains more than 1,000 geriatric care providers each year. For more information about Hebrew SeniorLife, visit https://www.hebrewseniorlife.org or follow us on our blog, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

BOSTON – Skilled nursing facilities and long-term chronic care hospitals across the country, in lockdown due to COVID-19 since early March, are beginning to plan a return to visitations between seniors and their family members now that the federal government has issued visitation guidelines.

While each facility will tailor their timing and approach to safe visitation, families anxiously await their opportunity to rekindle face-to-face communication with their aging parents or relatives. “Understanding and respecting your facility’s policies about visitation and social distancing will be key,” said Tammy Retalic, Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Patient Care Services for Hebrew SeniorLife, a national senior services leader uniquely dedicated to investigating, understanding, and enhancing the experience of aging. “Not only do we want first visits together to be successful, we also want both you and your loved ones to remain as safe as possible during your visit.” 

To help ensure a successful reunion, Retalic offers these five tips to help prepare for the first visit. 

•   Plan ahead:  Talk with the care team to better understand your loved one’s current state of mind and experience during the pandemic. Come prepared with conservation starters, such as fond memories and home happenings. Use your Zoom or FaceTime calls leading up to the visit creatively, whether that means connecting additional family members on the call, talking about the upcoming visit, playing music, or engaging in simple games like I Spy or 20 Questions.

•   Remember it will be emotional:  Even with the widespread, effective use of Zoom and FaceTime between seniors and their families over the past 12 weeks, there is nothing that replaces the in-person visit. You will be nervous about how your loved one will respond to seeing you after so many weeks, and emotions will run very high on both sides. Bring your tissues. 

•   Recognize loved ones may be frustrated: Despite your best efforts – as well as those by your loved one’s care team - to communicate about COVID-19 and the lack of in-person visits over the past few months, patients may not have fully grasped why their visitation routines were curtailed. There may be frustration, questions, and hurt feelings your loved one expresses in that first return visit. Understand that and be prepared to answer their questions in a direct, honest manner.

•   Embrace the silence: The first visit could seem very long, even if it is just ten minutes. Not all patients are conversational and after so much time apart, may not want to engage immediately. Be present and embrace the lulls in conversation; it may take time to re-establish the former communications cadence you had together prior to COVID-19. 

•   Overcome new normal challenges: Facemasks and screenings will be a fact of life for a long time. Remember that masks will make it harder to hear and speak – for both of you. Look and share that important eye contact – smiling eyes and laugh lines can help communicate where words are difficult to comprehend and hugging is not allowed. Be aware you may need to speak louder, talk more slowly, and listen extra carefully as your loved one shares their thoughts behind a mask. If your loved one has had medical challenges or cognitive changes over the past few months, they may look different or respond differently to conversation now. 

Reunions after long periods of time apart can fall short of expectations, especially in a COVID-19 world where nothing is returning to a previous state of normalcy. But by recognizing this fact and planning ahead, family members can create a positive environment for that initial re-encounter, and maximize the opportunity to engage their loved ones in mutually rewarding conversations that bring them closer together than ever before.

About Hebrew SeniorLife
Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is a national senior services leader uniquely dedicated to rethinking, researching, and redefining the possibilities of aging. Based in Boston, the nonprofit, non-sectarian organization has provided communities and healthcare for seniors, research into aging, and education for geriatric care providers since 1903. For more information about Hebrew SeniorLife, visit http://www.hebrewseniorlife.org, follow us on Twitter @H_SeniorLife, like us on Facebook, or read our blog.