MILESTONES

1973. Incorporates as Southwest Boston Senior Services, Boston’s first community-based nonprofit solely devoted to keeping elders at home.

1974. Opens first elder community cafe. Hires staff of four.

1975. Receives first state-funded Home Care Serves 40.

1977. Recruits first volunteer to help homebound elder.

1983. Responds to first report of elder abuse. Starts long-term care ombudsman program. Co-founds Home Care Association to advocate for eldercare services.

1992. Initiates Boston Money Management, a bill-paying & check-writing service for disabled elders.

1993. Founds Sant Grandet, Boston’s first ‘Haitian friendly’ elder cafe.

1995. Co-sponsors Boston ElderINFO, the city’s first eldercare help line. Co-founds the Eldercare Alliance, Boston’s first home care collaboration.

1997. Changes name from Southwest Boston Senior Services to Ethos.

1998. Offers Boston’s first Latino, Caribbean and Afro American home-delivered meal.

1999. Serves as Elder Protective Services agency for all of Boston.

2001. Establishes Boston’s first caregiver support group.

2002. Keeps first nursing home-eligible elder at home through new Community Choices

2003. Supports first younger disabled consumer at home with new Personal Care Attendant (PCA) program.

2004. Opens Café Emmanuel, New England’s first ‘LGBT-friendly’ elder lunch site.

2005. Voted Jamaica Plain’s best non-profit.

2006. Launches AgeWell West Roxbury, a community-capacity building project to promote aging-in-place.

2007. Selected by MetLife Foundation as one of nation’s top older volunteer programs.

 2008. Relocates first nursing home resident into Summer House, a home-like alternative to institutional care. Begins evidence-based falls prevention training for at-risk elders.

2009. Develops ‘no wrong door’ service delivery through creation of Suffolk County Aging & Disabilities Resource Consortium.

2010. Featured in Gen Silent, a nationally acclaimed documentary on LGBT aging. Enrolls elders in first Tai Chi class.

2011. Pilots care transitions coaching for high-risk discharges at Brigham & Women’s and Faulkner hospitals.

2012. Starts program to help nursing home residents relocate back to the community.

2013. Named Social Innovator of the Year by Root Cause.

2014. Introduces Healthy IDEAS, Boston’s first non-clinical, home-based elder depression management program. Assumes responsibility for Boston’s Medicare benefits counseling program, SHINE.

2015. Launches JP@Home, a membership-based initiative promoting aging-in-place.

2016. Initiates campaign to make West Roxbury an “Age-Friendly Community.”