Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly Rebrands as 2Life Communities

by Jeff Shaw

BOSTON — Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly, a nonprofit operator based in Boston, has rebranded itself as 2Life Communities. 

The name was revealed at the company’s annual gala, held Sunday night. Reflecting the company’s focus on affordability for seniors, the new brand’s tagline is “Age affordably. Live well.”

Roughly 1,500 residents representing 26 different countries and 22 primary languages currently live in 2Life Communities’ 1,200 fully equipped apartments on four campuses in Brighton, Newton and Framingham. The median household income of 2Life Communities’ residents living in subsidized units (which comprise 93 percent of 2Life’s apartments) is $10,100 a year.

“As we’ve continued to evolve, we needed a name that reflected our growing aspirations, the ways in which we are now engaging with the larger world and the opportunities we have to change the conversation around the issue of optimal aging,” said Donna Kalikow, chairman of the board. “With our new name and brand in place we are now better positioned as a developer, manager, service provider and champion for the aging in community model.”

The new name seeks to capture the central Jewish tenet of “L’Chaim” (a Hebrew toast meaning “to life”), and is also meant to express enthusiasm for the second phase of life.

“Residents of 2Life Communities are active, they volunteer, and they are engaged in lifelong learning. Our new name more accurately reflects how they see themselves and how they view life in our communities,” said Amy Schectman, president and CEO of 2Life Communities.

Central to the core of 2Life Communities’ mission is the belief that aging in community is crucial to battling the public health crisis of social isolation and loneliness in older adults, which research demonstrates lead to increased risk for heart disease, stroke, and dementia. 

The unveiling of its new name and brand comes at a busy time for 2Life Communities. The organization is about to finish the modernization of its Golda Meir House campus in Newton, will complete construction on the new Harry and Jeanette Weinberg House on its Brighton campus by the end of 2018, and is preparing for a spring groundbreaking on a project on Harvard Street in Coolidge Corner in Brookline in partnership with Congregation Kehillah Israel. 

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