We believe that furnishings are essential to the health and wellbeing of Hearth's residents. From our perspective, it is inadequate to give a person the key to their new home if it does not have a bed, a table and a place to sit. Additionally, some of our residents have mobility issues, so we pay particular attention to their needs.
Hearth has an ongoing need for financial gifts to sustainably house our residents. If you would like to contribute to this effort please click the button below.
Read about our new President & CEO Rhonda’s Pieroni’s SOAR 2024 vision as well as what does dignity in action look like at Hearth. Click here to read the full version of our Spring Newsletter.
Date: Thursday April 4, 8:00am-9:30am
Location: Cathedral Church of St. Paul
(138 Tremont St. Boston MA 02111)
You're cordially invited to a pivotal occasion in Hearth's journey to end elder homelessness - our Annual Meeting. This event will be highlighted by the introduction of our visionary new President and CEO, Rhonda Pieroni. Join us for a unique opportunity to dive into Hearth's impactful legacy spanning over three decades and to our forward-looking blueprint for the organization in 2024.
Encounter Our New Era
We are also privileged to welcome Edward Augustus, Massachusetts' Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities, alongside Kenzie Bok, Administrator of the Boston Housing Authority, as esteemed speakers. With homelessness commanding attention on both local and national stages, Secretary Augustus and Kenzie Bok will speak to their innovative strategies and aspirations at both the state and city tiers.
Connect and Collaborate Over Breakfast
Embark on a morning of meaningful connections at our light breakfast gathering. This is your chance to engage with fellow trailblazers dedicated to ending elder homelessness, alongside our partner entities, dignitaries from local and state government, and other influential figures in Boston. Together, we can tackle this escalating public health crisis.
Any questions, please reach out to us at ceo@hearth-home.org
Greetings all,
Hearth is excited to share the date of the Winter Walk for 2024 is Sunday, February 11th. Winter Walk is a non-profit organization that raises awareness and funds to end homelessness. Many of the organizations that we work with will participate in this walk.
Last year, Hearth, Inc. Board Members Diane Valle, Marilyn Miller, and Greg Manousos (along with his family), joined the Winter Walk to represent Hearth.
This year, we have created an official Team Hearth to participate in the 2024 Winter Walk. I encourage you to join our team to help us Soar in 2024! What do I mean by Soar in 2024? First, we need to create opportunities to promote Hearth’s name and good work. I would like to see Hearth Soar to new heights in employee engagement, in community outreach, in advocating for the fight to end elder homelessness, and supporting and advancing Hearth’s fundraising efforts.
This is a perfect opportunity to walk together and help to raise Hearth’s visibility in the community. You can bring your friends, family, and dogs are welcomed (leashed). I will be there and have convinced Zoe to join in the fun.
I would love to see representation from Hearth employees and all those associated with Hearth. To register, press the blue “Register Now” button on the Winter Walk website via this link. https://secure.qgiv.com/event/winterwalk2024-boston/
· All are welcome to walk without the barrier of fees or fundraising, but you will see that we suggest giving or raising $100 ($50- for youth and students) if able. Hearth’s team fundraising goal this year is $1,500 with a combination of board and staff contributions.
· Be sure to join the “Hearth” Team when registering. Enter “Hearth” in the search bar for teams and you will see our Hearth Logo with Rhonda Pieroni as our Team Captain.
After the walk, I welcome everyone to take in the city. If the weather cooperates, it may be a great day to skate on the Frog Pond, drink some hot cocoa, or get a bite to eat together. We will communicate with registered team members closer to the event date with information on local gathering places.
Hearth’s plan is to become a partner organization for the Winter Walk in 2025. This is significant because 100% of funds raised collectively are distributed among the partner organizations. Hearth is not a partner organization for 2024. This event will provide Hearth exposure to the Winter Walk in preparation to be a partner organization in 2025.
Warm regards and hope to see you there!
Rhonda Pieroni, President and CEO
Winter Walk
960 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd floor
Boston, MA 02118
Hearth, Inc. Welcomes Rhonda Pieroni as New President and Chief Executive Officer
Boston, MA – Hearth, Inc, a leader in the fight to end elder homelessness, is thrilled to announce the appointment of Rhonda Pieroni as its new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective January, 2024. A special thank you to Isaacson, Miller, one of the country’s premier executive search firms, for facilitating an extensive search on Hearth’s behalf.
Ms. Pieroni, joined Hearth in 2017, establishing Hearth’s first human resources office. Promoted to Chief Administrative Officer in 2020, she successfully led the implementation of Hearth’s first organization wide Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative, developing Hearth’s DEI Action Plan and imbedding it in Hearth’s current strategic plan. She established several agency wide employee engagement opportunities, improved compensation and benefits, and expanded professional development offerings for all employees. An accomplished and authentic leader, she brings a wealth of experience to Hearth. With a proven track record of developing organizational capacity in the non-profit sector, Ms. Pieroni is poised to lead Hearth into a new era of success.
“We are delighted to welcome Rhonda into this new role as our President and CEO. Over the past seven years Hearth has benefitted from her exceptional leadership skills, strategic insights, and deep experience in the non-profit sector,” says Doug Poutasse, Chair of Hearth’s Board of Directors. “The Board has great confidence in her ability to lead Hearth toward further progress in our enduring mission of ending elder homelessness.”
Ms. Pieroni’s vision for the organization centers around ensuring Hearth’s current and future fiscal sustainability; expanding Hearth’s reach and capacity to serve more clients; increasing Hearth’s visibility and actively engaging the community in Hearth’s mission to end elder homelessness. With this clear direction, Hearth is poised to tackle the challenges of the complex issue of elder homelessness.
About Hearth, Inc.
Hearth is the first organization in the United States created with the singular goal of ending elder homelessness. Currently, Hearth operates 228 units of permanent supportive housing across seven sites in Boston, including 43 affordable assisted living units. These units are not simply a roof over one’s head. They are a combination of affordable housing with voluntary support services. Residents are provided case management services by an on-site program nurse and/or clinical case manager assigned to them. Other support services include activities programming, representative payee, meals, personal care and/or housekeeping. Highly rigorous studies have consistently shown that this type of housing is highly effective for ending homelessness over the long-term.
With the number of people experiencing homelessness aged 65 or older expected to triple over the next decade, Hearth’s service model is a national blueprint on how to address this urgent public health crisis in our country. A model like Hearth’s that integrates supportive services dedicated to aging populations with housing or housing assistance and is complemented by clinical teams was associated with reduced health care utilization and spending of approximately $14-20k annually per person. Founded in 1991 by a group of seven women, Hearth is driven by compassion, concern, and the desire to change how society tackles the unique issue of elder homelessness. Since then, Hearth has become an expert on the challenges and solutions surrounding this issue and has placed over 3,000 individuals into affordable, safe, and permanent homes.
About Ms. Pieroni
Rhonda Pieroni has an M.Ed. in Organizational Management from Endicott College and a B.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University. She is an active member of Mass General Brigham’s Patient Family Advisory Council and on the Board of Directors for Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) in Boston. She is a passionate and dedicated leader. Prior to joining Hearth, Ms. Pieroni worked in real estate, property management and served as Vice President for Administration at Fisher College in Boston, where she strategically developed the organization’s infrastructure to advance the mission more effectively and efficiently. Her commitment to mentoring staff and having a positive impact on the lives of others aligns perfectly with Hearth’s core values, making her an excellent cultural fit for the organization.
Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Ms. Pieroni as she embarks on this exciting journey as our President and CEO. We look forward to an era of continued growth, innovation, and success under her leadership.
For media inquiries or more information, please contact:
Hearth, Inc. 1640 Washington Street Boston, MA 02118
Olivia (Liv) Howley | ohowley@hearth-home.org | (617) 369-1571
Your gift will help to ensure that all 228 Hearth residents and 100 Outreach clients will receive a gift and meal this holiday season. A monetary gift will allow Hearth flexibility in providing every resident and client with a holiday gift. Donations will be accepted through December 31st for this holiday campaign. (Please note: at this time we are not accepting material goods or food donations).
A newly released report from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies sounds a loud warning about what's ahead as the country ages rapidly, and how unprepared the U.S. is as boomers start to turn 80 within the next decade. For full NPR story : https://www.npr.org/2023/11/30/1215460460/housing-seniors-affordable-harvard-report-baby-boomers
As of November 2nd, I am stepping down as CEO of Hearth. It has been the most satisfying professional experience of my life, and please indulge me if I look back a little at where this little organization has arrived in the last seventeen years. But what I’m truly excited about is what lies ahead for Hearth.
First, the backward glance – we’ve grown to have 228 units of housing, including our two largest projects, Hearth at Olmsted Green and Hearth at Four Corners. Our Outreach team has housed nearly 3,000 formerly homeless or at-risk seniors, and preserved tenancies for hundreds more. We created and inspired the development of the National Leadership Initiative to End Elder Homelessness, which focused our national partners on the too often neglected needs of homeless older adults. With four national convening’s and a National Advisory Panel, NLI participants were inspired to develop thousands of units of permanent supportive housing across the country, from LA to Chicago to Dallas to Columbus to Philadelphia.
Seniors still sleep in shelters or on the street, and I know the folks in this room understand that, while we have made real and important progress, the challenges have continued and require our continued focus on ending the shameful reality of old people living without housing, insecure, at risk, and often frail. So, Hearth will continue to work on its strategy to finish the job. We will develop a robust real estate development department to speed up the process of developing new housing. We will continue to work on the expansion of our Outreach efforts. We are bolstering our Research and Advocacy efforts to spread the word that the Hearth model works, and ultimately that we will succeed in ending elder homelessness. Thank you for staying the course!
Ever wondered how our Outreach and prevention teams end elder homelessness? Read our Summer Newsletter to find out.
Together we will end elder homelessness
