The Deaconess Abundant Life Communities has been sharing abundant life with older adults since 1889.  Today, our focus is on providing a full spectrum of housing and service choices to older adults on our campuses.  Just as the original Deaconesses made a difference in the lives of those they served so long ago; we strive to nurture the mind, body, and spirit of the extraordinary older adults who live with us now.

Originally the Deaconess Abundant Life Communities (Deaconess) was founded through the Methodist Deaconess Movement of dedicated women who became a Protestant sisterhood serving the “suffering and needy.” They founded Deaconess training schools and hospitals in various cities across the country.  On November 1, 1889, the New England Deaconess Home and Training School was incorporated for the purpose of providing homes to those needing “refuge, care, and shelter” and eventually became the New England Deaconess Association.

To fulfill the urgent need for a hospital facility in Boston, the Association acquired the house next door to its residence for Deaconesses in training, and in 1896 opened the “New England Deaconess Hospital” with 15 beds.  Concerned that there was no hospital in the Concord area, Mr. Charles Emerson decided to donate land on the Sudbury River and funds to the New England Deaconess Association to build one.  At this same time, Emerson learned that Mrs. Foucar, who lived across the street from the hospital site, wanted to make a generous donation for a home for the aging. Emerson was excited about the prospect of working with Mrs. Foucar and her daughter, to create a great center for human welfare comprised of both a hospital and a home for the aging in Concord.

In 1911, the Deaconess Cottage Hospital in Concord opened, and N.E.D.A. ran it until 1924 when it was turned over to the citizens of Concord and renamed Emerson Hospital.  In November 1913, the Home for Aged Methodist Women, now Deaconess House, formally opened next door on what is now our Concord campus.  Through the years, new projects, expansions and products have enabled Deaconess Abundant Life Communities to better serve residents of the region. A Magnolia estate, Shore Cliff, was acquired in 1961 and became a retirement community. In 1964, Deaconess opened the Rivercrest Skilled Nursing Care Center in Concord with 41 beds, (later expanded to 100+).  In 1967, three apartment buildings were built in Concord to provide for affordable independent living.  In 1970, the three-story Chamberlin building was added to Deaconess House and the Duvall Chapel was completed.  Rockridge, a 61 unit residential care community, in Northampton, MA, was opened in 1971 and expanded to include assisted living in 2003.   In 1994, Deaconess built the Newbury Court Independent Living Community in Concord, and an expansion which opened in early 2006.  Through a partnership with Cooperative Elder Services, a new Adult Day Care Center opened in Concord in 2002.

Deaconess Abundant Life Communities is proud of its tradition of reaching out to meet and serve the changing physical, social, and spiritual needs of older adults over the years since our founding in 1889.  We continue to build on our legacy of service to older adults through the development of new senior living communities in Provincetown and Malden, Massachusetts; and Gilford, New Hampshire; and through the master plan for reconstruction of the Concord campus.