The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) and the Uphams Corner Health Center broke ground last week on a senior citizen housing model in Grove Hall that will include health services accessible to both residents and patients.
The nonprofit JPNDC and Uphams Health combined forces on the project, which will include 48 units of affordable rental housing for age 55 and over, with parking. The model provides for an expansion of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) at the location.
This “first-in-Massachusetts partnership” includes a 3,500-square-foot Senior Wellness Center on a three-parcel site at 4-18 Cheney St. that JPNDC has owned since 2018 and won city approvals to build on in 2021.
Teronda Ellis, the corporation’s, said the project was “super personal” since he was raised in Roxbury. Jay Trivedi, CEO of Uphams Health, said they are excited to bring a new model of housing to Grove Hall.
“Imagine a neighborhood where housing is not the finish line,” he said, “but the starting point and a front door open to health and wellness.”
He added: “This project shows what’s possible when we work together, not just with goals and not just with plans, but with action. Every resident in Cheney Homes will be able to age with dignity and purpose. We focus on prevention and not on the crisis…Let’s invest in this model, amplify it and help it spread.”
“This is an example of us fighting back against gentrification, affordability, and the housing crisis,” said Edward Augustus, state Secretary of Housing and Livable communities, who noted that the state provided $8.5 million in subsidies to the project.
“It’s particularly the case for folks that have called this neighborhood their own over an entire lifetime. They wonder if they’ll be able to stay here…This allows 48 individuals to say, ‘yes’ to the question.”
The project is expected to be completed by next summer.
