Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center to Break Ground on New Building
BOSTON, MA, UNITED STATES, October 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On Thursday, October 29 at 11am, Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center (HSNHC) will celebrate the groundbreaking of a new and state-of-the-art health facility, continuing to expand its mission of providing health care and community to residents in a historically underserved neighborhood.
Broadening its footprint on the Blue Hill Avenue corridor, HSNHC is building out a brownfields site by relying on a diverse and innovative financing plan that will employ union labor and convert a community eyesore into a place of wellness and gathering for the community.
The new three-story building at 8 Old Road in Dorchester, adjacent to HSNHC’s current facility, will allow the health center to expand clinical capacity, more than doubling its square footage.
“This constitutes a new milestone in a yearslong effort and, when finished, will serve as a wonderful new resource for this community,” said HSNHC President and CEO Charles A. Murphy, JD, MPA. “There’s been a tremendous amount of work by a lot of people, a tremendous amount of generosity, and it’s beginning to bear fruit in a way that will benefit a lot of people.”
With both primary and specialty services, the new structure will host family medicine, behavioral health, women’s health and OB/GYN, dental and eye care, nutritional health, podiatry, laboratory and pharmacy services, adolescent health, and cancer screening. In addition, HSNHC will introduce two new service lines: portable radiology and substance use disorder treatment.
The project relies on a $20 million tax-exempt bond issued by MassDevelopment and purchased by South Shore Bank, nearly $53 million in combined New Market Tax Credit allocation from The Community Builders, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, BlueHub Capital, Broadstreet Impact Services/LISC, CHC Capital Fund, and JPMorganChase. Commodore Builders will serve as the project’s general contractor.
The project also draws on an $8 million American Rescue Plan Act from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a $5 million earmark from the state, and brownfields redevelopent funds from MassDevelopment.
Additionally, HSNHC has continued to thrive in its own fundraising campaign, and Murphy expressed gratitude to Bancel Philanthropies for its $1.5 million contribution and to Boston Medical Center for contributing $500,000.
“Without our partners, we would not be able to continue providing essential care and wellness services for this community, which deserves it and to which we are committed,” said Murphy.
Murphy extended particular thanks to Loryn Sheffner, Founder and Principal at Avenue Development, whom he called integral to cobbling together the project’s financing plan with different stakeholder, as well as Katharine Kettner and David Valecillos of The Community Builders.
“Loryn was fantastic, juggling a lot of different balls in the air, and we wouldn’t be here without her and the hard work of many others,” Murphy said. “We’ve benefited from the collaboration and talent of a lot of people, and we’re looking forward to channeling all this effort back into the neighborhood.”
Harvard Street, which first opened on Blue Hill Ave. in 1969, provides exemplary, integrated primary health care for a highly multicultural and multilingual community. As a need-blind organization, it provides care regardless of ability to pay and serves a patient population that is approximately 97% low-income. HSNHC currently serves about 10,600 patients each year and expects to reach approximately 14,000 patients after the new facility opens.
Broadening its footprint on the Blue Hill Avenue corridor, HSNHC is building out a brownfields site by relying on a diverse and innovative financing plan that will employ union labor and convert a community eyesore into a place of wellness and gathering for the community.
The new three-story building at 8 Old Road in Dorchester, adjacent to HSNHC’s current facility, will allow the health center to expand clinical capacity, more than doubling its square footage.
“This constitutes a new milestone in a yearslong effort and, when finished, will serve as a wonderful new resource for this community,” said HSNHC President and CEO Charles A. Murphy, JD, MPA. “There’s been a tremendous amount of work by a lot of people, a tremendous amount of generosity, and it’s beginning to bear fruit in a way that will benefit a lot of people.”
With both primary and specialty services, the new structure will host family medicine, behavioral health, women’s health and OB/GYN, dental and eye care, nutritional health, podiatry, laboratory and pharmacy services, adolescent health, and cancer screening. In addition, HSNHC will introduce two new service lines: portable radiology and substance use disorder treatment.
The project relies on a $20 million tax-exempt bond issued by MassDevelopment and purchased by South Shore Bank, nearly $53 million in combined New Market Tax Credit allocation from The Community Builders, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, BlueHub Capital, Broadstreet Impact Services/LISC, CHC Capital Fund, and JPMorganChase. Commodore Builders will serve as the project’s general contractor.
The project also draws on an $8 million American Rescue Plan Act from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a $5 million earmark from the state, and brownfields redevelopent funds from MassDevelopment.
Additionally, HSNHC has continued to thrive in its own fundraising campaign, and Murphy expressed gratitude to Bancel Philanthropies for its $1.5 million contribution and to Boston Medical Center for contributing $500,000.
“Without our partners, we would not be able to continue providing essential care and wellness services for this community, which deserves it and to which we are committed,” said Murphy.
Murphy extended particular thanks to Loryn Sheffner, Founder and Principal at Avenue Development, whom he called integral to cobbling together the project’s financing plan with different stakeholder, as well as Katharine Kettner and David Valecillos of The Community Builders.
“Loryn was fantastic, juggling a lot of different balls in the air, and we wouldn’t be here without her and the hard work of many others,” Murphy said. “We’ve benefited from the collaboration and talent of a lot of people, and we’re looking forward to channeling all this effort back into the neighborhood.”
Harvard Street, which first opened on Blue Hill Ave. in 1969, provides exemplary, integrated primary health care for a highly multicultural and multilingual community. As a need-blind organization, it provides care regardless of ability to pay and serves a patient population that is approximately 97% low-income. HSNHC currently serves about 10,600 patients each year and expects to reach approximately 14,000 patients after the new facility opens.
Amanda Cox
Liberty Square Group
+1 603-969-1878
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