Aging in community: What we have learned over sixty years
Our organization was founded in 1965 with a clear mission: to provide low-income older adults with safe, affordable housing. Since then, 2Life Communities has grown and evolved with a new name, multiple locations, programs and partnerships. We also expanded our mission. Today, we strive to empower all seniors to pursue lives of purpose, connection, and joy in supportive communities.
Reflecting on the past 60 years, our success is driven by three guiding principles: resident centricity, continuous innovation, and a commitment to operational sustainability.
Resident centricity
Every decision, from budget planning to programming to maintenance, should begin with this question: “How does this advance optimal aging for residents?” If aging in community is the path to aging well, how do we create an environment where residents can pursue their own goals for this stage of life?
Resident Service Coordinators play the most direct role in this, building trusted relationships with residents to understand residents’ needs, and connect them with programs and services to realize those needs. But the imperative to place residents at the center of our work needs to be shared by every staff member. That means to be sensitive and responsive to a resident’s need at the moment—whether lending an ear, performing a simple act of kindness, spotting an unmet need. It also means supporting the frontline staff who are in immediate contact with residents.
Resident centricity also means providing rich and diverse programming so that each resident can find their own path into the community. It can be music, a discussion group, crafting, or tai chi. A wide range of activities that keep people with varied interests engaged, stimulated, and connected is essential.
Continuous innovation
From setting new industry standards for adaptable apartment design to pioneering novel financial models to integrating housing and healthcare, affordable senior housing requires continuous innovation.
At 2Life, you see innovation through the unique partnership to build a Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) Center on our Brighton residential campus as a response to an emerging and important integration between senior housing and access to high-quality advanced healthcare.
To address the gap in senior housing for the middle market, 2Life created
our Opus community in Newton—an innovative new model for community living that’s affordable to seniors who fall in the gap between qualifying for subsidized housing and comfortably affording the high-end-only private market.
In collaboration with Treehouse Foundation, we are building a generationally inclusive community that brings together families adopting children from foster care, young adults aging out of foster care, and older adults eager to be involved with the families and young adults, in a trauma-informed, healing environment.
We are also working with policy-makers to drive awareness and support for new funding models in the senior housing ecosystem.
Commitment to models that will endure
Finally, optimal aging requires sustainable models that address housing, economic, physical, mental, and social needs. 2Life forges relationships with financial institutions, public sector funders, and individual donors, while building emergency reserves to sustain growth in challenging times.
Developing housing that can endure requires managing our portfolio wisely, focusing on operational efficiencies and long-term value. Investing in people and fostering a culture where every employee feels valued is also key to our success.
We’ve seen progress beyond what was imaginable in 1965 and we are not finished. In addition to sustaining and expanding our work, for every older adult to have the chance to thrive in a caring community, we seek to replicate 2Life’s success nationwide. The future of society demands this transformation, and we are proud to lead the way.
