South Boston Teamwork Made Elizabeth Quinn's Last Year Special

Everything aligned just right for Elizabeth Quinn. The last year of her life was full thanks to a team of people who worked together to help her out.

“I think the biggest part was just knowing that she landed in a community place where her last year of life was rich and full because of the people that she was surrounded by,” said Kathy Lafferty, executive director at the South Boston Neighborhood House. “That, to me, is the best part of the whole thing.”

Elizabeth, 90, passed away peacefully on April 29. She was a resident of 5 O’Connor Way, South Boston Neighborhood Development Corporation’s senior housing development. 

But it was quite a journey for Elizabeth to get to O’Connor Way. 

Elizabeth lived across the street from Kathy and her family for about 15 years. But when the family who owned the house decided to sell it and move, Elizabeth was left with nowhere to go. Elizabeth, originally from Ireland, was an independent senior living on a fixed income and didn’t have family living close by.

“She needed some help and support trying to figure all of that out,” Kathy said. 

Enter the team of advocates and helpers: Kathy, Carole Sullivan, the Ollie’s senior advocate, Donna Brown, executive director of South Boston NDC, Senator Nick Collins, Elizabeth’s nieces, Trudy and Ann Marie, and her former landlords, who reached out to elected officials. 

“It was really a combination of Carole's advocacy and her work with seniors as well as the elected officials and Donna and her team kind of coming together to make sure that Elizabeth didn't get lost in the shuffle and had a place to land,” Kathy said. 

“Housing is ridiculously bad in South Boston,” said Carole. “An email went out and I happened to be tagged in it to see what we could do.” 

Carole met with Elizabeth in person and got to know her, her nieces from New York, and her support system. Senator Collins’ office got involved. Because of her limited income, Elizabeth had to go through the Boston Housing Authority, which is quite a process, Carole said. And it just so happened that a senior who was eligible for O’Connor Way turned down the apartment.

“The sun and the moon were aligned,” Carole said. “Donna jumped on and said we may have an apartment, but we have to have all the other pieces in place.”

Carole and the team worked with Elizabeth to get her paperwork done. “That's the big thing for seniors,” Carole said. “They get overwhelmed.”

It was only a matter of days to get Elizabeth secured in her new place. 

“We designed and planned O’Connor Way to serve people like Elizabeth,” Donna said. “We’re thrilled we were able to help her in her time of housing need. She became an important part of the community here.”

Kathy said it speaks to the level of partnership between the elected officials, the nonprofits, and advocates like Carole, who took the time to get to know Elizabeth and build trust.

“[Elizabeth] was grateful,” Kathy said, noting that moving is one of the most stressful things in life. “To be moving and be alone and to be overwhelmed by it, not understanding at all and then to not have it be your choice … I think that she really appreciated the support and the guidance and the help.

“And I think in the end, it was really great for her to live in community living like that,” Kathy said.  “It was a little more social … I think in the end, her quality of life was much better than living alone in a small apartment by herself.”

Elizabeth participated in yoga classes at O’Connor Way. She socialized with many of the residents and was always quick with a joke, Carole said.

“She was the nicest woman and had the best sense of humor,” said O’Connor Way Resident Manager Lynda Errico, who shared that before yoga class one day a friend asked Elizabeth if she was ready for class and she replied: “I have to go out and have a smoke first.”

“She was having a blast,” Carole said. “[The residents] had a blast with her. She was fabulous.”

But things don’t always happen like this. 

“This is a huge success story,” Carole said. “That's a feel-good moment.”