This year, Mainstay Supportive Housing and Home Care is celebrating half a century of caring for the elderly and people with various disabilities. We are proud of this long and rich history of support that has touched so many individuals and their families—and we are excited about our next 50 years.
The essence of our organization began in 1975 when three forward-thinking mental health visionaries – working out of a small, cramped office at the Mass Mental Health Center in the Longwood Medical area of Boston – saw the need for community-based supportive housing as a response to the closure of state psychiatric hospitals all over Massachusetts. Deinstitutionalization, as it came to be known, prompted the release of tens of thousands of patients from such facilities in the early 1970’s. These three innovators, Newt Levee, Sheldon Bycoff and Dr. Donald Gair, recognized the need to establish supportive housing, and they convinced the state to fund several early projects in Boston.
Mental Health Programs Inc. (MHPI) was officially formed in 1975. “MHPI recognized the need for housing for individuals who had previously been residents of state mental health hospitals,” said Mainstay President and CEO Larry Oaks. “This would lay the foundation of the Mainstay of today.” Ten years later, New York City created supportive housing to meet the needs of residents who were sleeping in the streets.
In 1978, MHPI became one of only 26 organizations in the country to receive a U.S. Housing and Urban Development Demonstration Grant to develop a supportive housing model for people with long-term psychiatric disabilities. With federal support, MHPI transformed the landscape of supportive housing in Massachusetts over the next several years. In 1983, MHPI opened a six-unit apartment building in Mission Hill under the HUD Demonstration Grant. It would be followed by an 11-unit residence in Jamaica Plain, then a 12-unit residence in Jamaica Plain, then residences in Dorchester and Roxbury.
“These initial homes really were groundbreaking,” said Oaks. “The care provided ranged from individuals who required 24-hour supervision to others who attended day programs outside of the homes.”
More residences would open over the ensuing decades and, in 1999, MHPI founded Residential Support Services Inc. (RSSI), which was designed to provide supportive services to low-income people with substantial emotional, cognitive and/or physical challenges. These individuals ultimately occupied in MHPI’s 10th supportive home. RSSI was later credentialed by MassHealth to provide Group Adult Foster Care services, and its client roster would soon expand to include residents of other subsidized housing organizations.
It wasn’t until the year 2000 that MHPI began to focus on services for the elderly with the opening of a residence for low-income senior citizens aged 62 and older on Bellingham Hill in Chelsea. The facility was designed to meet the challenges and needs of seniors as they age in place. “In 2025 we will be carrying out a $2 million renovation on this property, which is our largest,” said Oaks. “This 60-unit building will be improved to ensure Mainstay is well positioned to house and serve vulnerable people at this location for another 25 years and beyond.”
In 2010, MHPI expanded its reach to central Massachusetts, opening a location for low-income seniors in Spencer. Just a year later, RSSI expanded its home care services to Cape Cod. Also in 2011, RSSI was accredited to provide care services to people with acquired brain injuries.
Oaks was hired as president in November 2017. During his first two years, he led an initiative to rename and rebrand the organization from MHPI to Mainstay. He also oversaw the launch of the new residential housing program for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
“This was a significant development for Mainstay because it was the first time in our history that we had worked directly with this population,” said Oaks. “This has been a wonderful shift for Mainstay and has opened many doors for us.”
Mainstay’s six houses in Newton, Norwood and Malden are truly clean, comfortable and well-maintained homes where residents develop friendships, take part in group activities and live with a sense of true independence. Many residents work outside of the home.
Mainstay is planning several special events to mark its 50th year in service. Oaks is also planning a major expansion of Mainstay’s Homecare network to support medically fragile and formerly homeless individuals. “Our services will help this population stay in their housing as opposed to returning to shelters or the street,” said Oaks. This program is due to a new partnership with MassHealth, Father Bill’s and Mainspring, an established Brockton-based nonprofit serving the homeless.
“2025 is going to be a banner year for Mainstay,” said Oaks. “We are excited about new opportunities as well as taking time to look back and recognize and honor the people past and present who have helped make Mainstay the organization it is today.”