Our Vision

For over 50 years, Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center has been a beacon of health and hope, providing first-class care to all—regardless of a person’s ability to pay.

We are building this legacy of care and concern by envisioning an urban health hub that empowers neighbors to live healthy lives in the community.

The Urban Health Hub

Reducing Environmental Risks

The Grove Hall neighborhood currently suffers from environmental injustice. Asthma rates are higher in Dorchester and Roxbury than anywhere else in the city of Boston, and hospitalizations and visits to emergency departments are also higher per capita in our neighborhood. Poor indoor and outdoor air quality is one of the greatest causes and risks for asthma, which can be life-threatening without proper care.

With this new healthcare facility, Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center hopes to rectify some of environmental damage done to the community. The new healthcare facility will be designed to Passive House standards and will utilize an all-electric, high efficiency mechanical system, coupled with an optimized building envelope to achieve an ultra-low Energy Use Intensity (EUI). To further decrease the building’s demands on the grid and reduce ongoing operating costs, the Project will generate clean energy on site with roof-mounted photovoltaic solar panels. The Project will be LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) at a level yet to be determined.

A Replicable Model for Urban Communities

The United Nations designated 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with an agenda to achieve all 17 goals worldwide by 2030. These goals include ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages (Goal 3), reducing inequality (Goal 10), sustainable cities and communities (Goal 11), climate action (Goal 13), and partnerships for the goals (Goal 17). While there is a strong commitment by all stakeholders to implement the global goals, progress toward achieving these goals has been slow.

The Harvard Street Health Hub will not only serve Boston. It will also function as a global social model—which typically involves interventions designed to address societal issues— to help leaders in other urban communities struggling with similar challenges to produce similar outcomes. Characterized by a clear and transparent framework and contextual adaptability, this project was developed with stakeholder Involvement and ethical and cultural sensitivity at its core. Therefore, other cities in the United States and even world-wide can look toward this successful project as a holistic model they can adapt to address their urban community’s concerns – and accelerate progress toward several SDGs.