Winchester resident named to board of New Horizons at Choate

New Horizons at Choate welcomed two new trustees at its annual board meeting, held October 19 at the Woburn independent and assisted living community. Gerard Polcari of Winchester and Clare Hurley of Woburn will officially begin their three-year terms on January 1, 2017.

Polcari was tapped by Governor Baker 18 months ago to be chief procurement officer for the MBTA. The Winchester native now oversees all purchasing and materials handling activities for the Commonwealth’s transportation agency. His career also includes 13 years as director of IT and operations administration and finance for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and a stint managing the procurement of software and services for the Commonwealth.

Active in the local community, Polcari was a member of Winchester’s board of selectmen from 1992 to 1999, serving as chair in 1994 and vice-chair in 1998. He has also been a Town Meeting member for more than 35 years. Polcari and his wife, Nancy, have two sons: Andrew, 18, is studying at Ithaca College in New York, and Justin, 16, is a junior at Winchester High School, where he plays goalie for the soccer team.

A lifelong Woburn resident, Hurley is an executive administrator with Schneider Institutes for Health Policy at Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management. Previously, she spent nearly 20 years as a business manager in a Woburn pharmaceutical firm and served as a sales associate at New Horizons’ sister community, in Marlborough.

Hurley is a member of the board of directors of Woburn Historical Society, and she and her husband, Chris, frequently participate in 18th century reenactments. The couple also perform with several local singing and dancing groups, including Merry Minstrels and the Crown, Colony, and Celtic Dancers.

“Jerry and Clare are accomplished professionals who have also given back to the community in significant ways,” said Christine Coakley, executive director of New Horizons and a 22-year employee. “We are honored to have their support and involvement.”

Both of New Horizons’ new trustees have first-hand experience with the not-for-profit senior living community. Polcari’s mother-in-law made her home at New Horizons for about 15 years. Hurley’s mother resided at New Horizons for six years, through 2013, and Hurley continues to visit with the various performance troupes with which she is involved.

The meeting culminated with the board’s vote to waive any increase in 2017 to the monthly service fees paid by current New Horizons residents. According to Coakley, this motion passed by unanimous vote for the 22nd year in a row. As a result, all residents who moved to the community within the last 22 years will continue paying the same monthly fee for at least one more year as they did when they moved in.

The monthly service fee at New Horizons is the monthly rent, but it also includes housing costs, three meals per day, social events, weekly light housekeeping, utilities, apartment maintenance, groundskeeping, snow removal, a 24-hour front desk attendant, and scheduled group transportation to local shopping and special events.

“Our relationship with Cummings Foundation has allowed us to offer this unique benefit to our residents year after year,” said Coakley. “With many aspects of the economy frequently in flux, it’s reassuring for the people who live here to know that one of the primary items in their personal budgets will remain constant for another year.”

New Horizons’ apartments are primarily open to residents of Woburn, Winchester, and Medford. In addition to independent and assisted living, dementia care is provided on site by Hearthstone Alzheimer Care, an independently owned and operated organization. More information about New Horizons is available here.

###

PHOTO: (left to right) New Horizons executive director Christine Coakley, incoming trustees Gerard Polcari and Clare Hurley, and Cummings Foundation executive director Joel Swets, also a Winchester resident