More than 300 join in Ethos 40th Anniversary Celebration

On October 23, 2013, Ethos, the Jamaica Plain-based elder services non-profit, opened its headquarters to more than 300 current and past employees, clients, volunteers, community leaders, elected officials, families and friends to celebrate its 40th Anniversary. The event was held at the organization’s Jamaica Plain offices and highlighted the 40 years Ethos has spent delivering high-quality, affordable home and community-based care to the elderly and disabled with the spirit of care, compassion and community.

“Ethos depends on the community to fulfill its mission,” said Dale Mitchell, executive director of Ethos. “This event is really about saying thank you - 40 years of thank yous - and celebrating the contributions Ethos has made to helping the elderly and disabled stay in their own homes, for as long as possible.”

Ethos was born out of a call issued by the Massachusetts Office of Elder Affairs in 1972 for grassroots coalitions to support a program to keep elders out of nursing homes.  Called “Home Care,” it was one of the nation’s first efforts to create an alternative to the institutional models of caring for the elderly. 

That August, a group of southwest Boston seniors and providers formed the Southwest Boston Ad Hoc Coalition for the Elderly.  In its first report to the state, it found “meager resources wasted by duplication… and lacking organized means of efficiently referring older people to sources of help.”   It was a problem the group decided to take on.

In 1973, the Coalition incorporated as Southwest Boston Senior Services – the city’s first, neighborhood-based not-for-profit organization devoted solely to keeping the elderly and disabled at home.  One year later, it began operations out of a Roslindale storefront with a staff of four and funding for one elder lunch site and a Meals on Wheels route. 

Today, that agency is Ethos, a $16 million organization that promotes the dignity and independence of almost 3000 elderly and disabled persons.  Despite years of growth, Ethos remains rooted in the principles of care, compassion and community that guided its founders.

ABOUT ETHOS

Celebrating its 40th year, Ethos is a private, non-profit organization that is dedicated to promoting independence, dignity and well-being among the elderly and disabled through quality, affordable and culturally-appropriate home and community-based care  As a state-authorized Aging Services Access Point (ASAP), Ethos administers the Elder Protective Services, Money Management and SHINE (Serving the Health Insurance Needs of Everyone) for the entire city of Boston and also coordinates all the non-institutional home and community-based services for elderly and disabled residents of the southwest Boston neighborhoods of West Roxbury, Hyde Park, Roslindale, Jamaica Plain, and Mattapan. For more information, visit www.ethocare.org.