Hebrew SeniorLife Raises More Than $130 Million in Successfully Completing Age of Opportunity Campaign

Boston, MA - Hebrew SeniorLife, New England’s largest nonprofit provider of senior health care and living communities, and the only senior care organization affiliated with Harvard Medical School, announced the successful completion of its Age of Opportunity: The Campaign for  Hebrew SeniorLife, raising more than $130 million.

The seven-year effort, the largest fundraising initiative in Hebrew SeniorLife’s history, exceeded its original $125 million goal.

Campaign funds were used to enhance Hebrew SeniorLife’s memory health efforts, support teaching and research, provide programs and services that go above and beyond for seniors, and enhance the flagship Boston campus.  Notable accomplishments include:

• Naming the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, which provides clinical and translational research on specific health challenges facing older adults. Marcus Institute investigators are finding solutions to the most pressing challenges of aging, including Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, osteoporosis, falls, frailty, and more. Among the institute’s many future-altering efforts is a Healthy Aging Initiative, established to answer the question “What predicts and supports healthy aging?” 
• Creating and naming the Deanna and Sidney Wolk Center for Memory Health at Hebrew SeniorLife.  The Wolk Center provides comprehensive outpatient care related to brain health, cognitive and behavioral problems, and memory loss, whether due to Alzheimer’s disease, other dementias, or other neurological or psychiatric conditions, and supports both patients and their families during their journey.  The center’s Brain Stimulation and Neuromodulation Program offers non-invasive, personalized interventions to help individuals maintain brain health, mental well-being, and cognitive function, including symptom management for those with dementia. 
• Renovating and remodeling the 6th floor of the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center - Boston campus, radically transforming the highest floor of our long-term chronic care hospital into the household model desired by today’s seniors and their families.
• Launching new workforce development initiatives to address a critical need for health care workers. These include a certified nursing assistant training program that provides 200 hours of paid training and English language learning, and a culinary and hospitality immersion program to empower participants with the skills needed to build a successful culinary career.
• Establishing a new transportation program that will help older adults access services at the Deanna and Sidney Wolk Center for Memory Health as well as other medical and community-based services.
• Strengthening Hebrew SeniorLife’s commitment to help nurses advance their careers, stay abreast of best practices, and develop innovative initiatives that lead the way in the care of older adults.
• Raising $6.6 million for essential COVID-19 relief and front-line worker salaries during the pandemic.
• Funding expanded community space in a new building under construction at the Center Communities of Brookline affordable housing campus in Brookline, MA. 
• Supporting innovative, individualized services that go above and beyond in the care of seniors such as the Center for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and Neglect, expressive therapies, hospice and palliative care, spiritual care, and multigenerational programming.

“The community’s support of this effort has been so incredibly generous, and we are grateful to all those who contributed. This investment of resources is allowing Hebrew SeniorLife to address the most urgent needs of seniors, which became even more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Board Chair Melissa Bayer Tearney. “The Age of Opportunity Campaign was both ambitious and forward-thinking. Donor support is allowing Hebrew SeniorLife to reimagine aging through outstanding health care, inclusive senior living communities, influential teaching, and rigorous research.”

“We want to applaud the many accomplishments of the campaign that are helping to meet the challenges of senior care today,” said President & Chief Executive Officer Steve Landers M.D., MPH.  “The concerns that seniors face are pressing, including the need for more affordable housing options, more supports for people with dementia, and more geriatric training and research. While the Age of Opportunity campaign comes to a close, Hebrew SeniorLife will never stop in our pursuit of helping older adults live longer, more active, and more fulfilling lives. We all deserve better—and we believe Hebrew SeniorLife is exactly the right organization to continue finding creative new solutions.” 

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 4,500 seniors a day across six campuses throughout Greater Boston. 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, which has a portfolio of more than $85 million, making it one of the largest gerontological research facilities in the U.S. in a clinical setting. It also trains more than 1,000 geriatric care providers each year. For more information about Hebrew SeniorLife, visit our website or follow us on our blog, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.