Carehaus is founded on the belief that older adults, disabled people, and those who care for them are integral to the well-being of our communities.

Yet as a society, we have yet not begun to design for the increasing number of aging, disabled, or visually impaired people in our neighborhoods — nor design for those who care for them.

Through accessible architecture/design and programming, Carehaus enables residents to fully participate in a democratic society.

Carehaus is founded on the belief that dignified care should be accessible to anyone who needs it.

Challenge: Long-term care is financially out of reach for 90% of older adults in the U.S. At the same time, there are simply not enough caregivers to meet the existing needs of older and disabled adults. Care gaps lead to to poor nutrition, missed medication, and costly, preventable late-stage hospital admissions.

Solution: Carehaus designs for “congregate care” or “care-sharing” which makes caregiving more efficient and safer: caregivers can take turns keeping an eye on those who need close monitoring or support each other in tasks such as leaning over to lift heavier residents.

Carehaus is founded on the belief that caregivers’ stability directly impacts the health of older and disabled people in times of regular illnesses and in crises.

Challenge: In the United States, caregiving is an industry characterized by low wages and high turnover. 60% of caregivers in the United States face food insecurity and housing instability.

Solution: Carehaus provides caregivers with good wages, benefits, childcare, and housing designed to balance their need for privacy with shared amenities. By providing good jobs and reducing turnover, Carehaus passes these cost-savings on in terms of affordable care for older and disabled residents.

Carehaus is founded on the belief that the arts play a critical role in promoting dialogue, cultural esteem, and shifting how we value care.

Challenge: To reverse decades of cultural and economic disinvestment in minoritized communities and the wellbeing older adults, society needs art, architecture, and design to help lead this shift.

Solution: Art, architecture, and designs at each Carehaus will reflect its unique environment — neighborhood, community, history — and provide opportunities for residents and visitors to reflect and engage with each other.

Marisa Morán Jahn

Of Ecuadorian and Chinese descent, artist Marisa Morán Jahn has collaborated with the National Domestic Workers Alliance since 2011 to create “one of 5 apps to change the world” (CNN), two mobile studios (NannyVan, CareForce One), artwork, policy toolkits, and a PBS film. These works have reached 25,000 individuals on the ground and millions more through media (NY Times, BBC, Univision) and presentations at The White House, The United Nations, Tribeca Film Festival, and Brooklyn Museum. Jahn is grantee of Creative Capital, Sundance, and Rockefeller Foundation and the Director of Integrated Design at Parsons/The New School. She previously taught at Columbia University and MIT where she continues as a Senior Researcher. Instagram

Rafi Segal

Rafi Segal is an architect, Associate Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at MIT, and the director of Future Urban Collectives whose work explores how emerging notions of sharing and collectivity can impact the design of buildings and cities. Segal has undertaken large scale urban plans among them a regional plan to address future flooding and sea level rise in the New York metropolitan area, a peace museum and library in Uganda, and communal neighborhoods in Israel, Rwanda, and the Philippines. Segal’s work has been exhibited at venues including the Venice Biennale of Architecture; Museum of Modern Art; and the Hong Kong/Shenzhen Urbanism Biennale. He holds a PhD from Princeton University and a M.Sc and B.Arch from Technion- Israel Institute of Technology. Instagram

Ernst Valery

A Haitian-American immigrant, Ernst Valery is the founder and president of SAA | EVI affiliate Ernst Valery Investments Corp. (EVI), a minority-owned real estate investment firm that invests in select underserved and undervalued key emerging urban transitional areas with high residential and retail demand. Valery also actively engages in social entrepreneurship. Valery received a MS in Real Estate Development from Columbia University; a MS in Policy Analysis and Public Administration and BS in Urban and Regional Planning from Cornell University. Ernst is a MLK Community Fellow at MIT’s CoLab.