CHAI Celebrates 20 Years of Service

It’s been 20 years since Community Housing for Adult Independence (CHAI) held its inaugural dinner at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge. In that time, the JF&CS program has offered vital services to help individuals with disabilities and their families in the Greater Boston community live their lives with dignity and independence.

Betsy Closs, Director of Services for People with Disabilities, said, “CHAI’s strength is that we focus on people’s abilities instead of their disabling conditions. We don’t set up cookie cutter programs, we help people create homes.”

Thanks to the leadership of Event Chairs Jackie and Alan Weinstein, the Agency raised over $160,000 for CHAI at its annual event on November 18. Almost 200 guests attended the gala at the Four Seasons Hotel Boston. The highlight of the evening for many was a moving speech by CHAI client Esther Greenspan.

This year’s celebration also honored the program’s Luminaries, 18 individuals and families whose vision, expertise, and generosity have lighted the path for CHAI’s continued success.

CHAI housing opened in the spring of 1990 with 13 residents. The program’s first newsletter proudly reported, “CHAI provides a residential setting in which no individual is defined by a label … but where special assistance is provided as special need exists.”

Even in the midst of the economic crisis, CHAI’s programs continue to grow and thrive. Over the past 20 years, Jewish Family &Children’s Service has grown tremendously. Today we are the largest provider of comprehensive human services in Greater Boston and are proud of our commitment to providing personalized and integrated services to our clients.

JF&CS now serves 80 adults in our CHAI residential and independent living program and helped 40 adults find meaningful volunteer and part-time work opportunities through our CHAI Works program.

Betsy said, “We’ve grown by establishing a variety of housing options for people with a variety of disabilities. We support all people and tailor services to individual needs.”

While we celebrate where we have come from, we still have more to do. There are still people waiting to join CHAI and we are committed to serve every member of our community.

Twenty years ago, the founders could not have imagined the impact their work would have and the number of individuals and families that services would reach. JF&CS gives a heartfelt thanks to CHAI supporters for their generosity and continued commitment as we begin to look ahead to the next 20 years. Learn More.