One of the Bay
State's leading policy-makers for people over 65 visited the Fresh Pond
Mall headquarters of Cambridge at Home on Oct. 23. Senator Patricia D.
Jehlen, chair of the Commonwealth's Joint Committee on Elder Affairs,
heard about our organization's history and practices from Executive
Director Kathleen Spirer and Trustees Shippen Page, Kristin Mortimer,
Steve Stadler, and Ruth and Victor McElheny. The Senator discussed many
issues, including the relevance of non-profit 'Age-in-Community' organizations in promoting elders' health.
Accompanying Senator Jehlen was Victoria A. Halal, Committee Director in Senator Jehlen's office.
Representing the Second Middlesex Senate District (Winchester, Medford, and Somerville)
since 2005, Senator Jehlen sponsored bills to extend hospice care to
the Basic and Essentials programs of MassHealth and to develop 1,000
units of 'supportive housing' designed to maintain independence for
modest-income people. Both were signed into law by Governor Deval
Patrick in 2012. Also this year, her district was extended to Wards 9,
10, and 11 of Cambridge. She and her husband Alain reside in Somerville.
Previous to her Senate service, Jehlen was a member of the Somerville
School Committee in 1976-1991 and State Representative from 1991 to
2005.
House chair of the Elder Affairs Committee is State Representative Alice K. Wolf, resident and a former mayor of Cambridge.