Posted on October 24, 2019
Although the circumstances that put Alland Pierre and Lisa Heughan in wheelchairs are different, their experience adjusting to their new reality was the same. They felt trapped.
“I sat in a nursing home for over two years filling out housing applications,” said Alland. “It was like being in a super minimum security prison.”
“The last place I lived in was semi-accessible, but the area wasn’t the best,” said Heughan. “I was terrified to go out.”
Not so much anymore. They are two of the new residents at One Gurney Street, and the connections they’ve made symbolize the vision Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services Executive Director Pat Flaherty had when she first started dreaming about this trash-strewn site in the 1990s, known as Parcel 25.
Once upon a time, this part of the city was a bustling commercial center. In the 1960s, the land was taken as part of the planning for bringing Route I-95 through the city. The highway idea was defeated but the property remained vacant. Owned by the MBTA, it was used to store construction debris. Flaherty saw the site as a wasted opportunity since it is right across the street from the Roxbury Crossing subway station.
Fresh off from developing Brigham Circle commercial center at the other end of Mission Hill, Flaherty and her team started meeting with residents. From 2007 to 2009, 14 meetings were held and residents made it clear they wanted to see a mix of housing and jobs. In 2012, Mission Hill NHS bought the site and shifted into development mode.
Today, thanks to public and private financing that included a $2.9 million loan from MHP, the vision for Parcel 25 is a reality. Metro Housing Boston – the state’s largest provider of housing subsidies and services – moved all of its more than 160 employees there. Eastern Bank, which provided construction financing, opened a branch. The upper three floors feature 40 affordable apartments. The property is no longer governed by fences but by walkways. “We want Gurney Street to be a place where people can make connections,” said Flaherty.
Pierre and Heughan represent that vision. At first glance, they are an unlikely pair. Pierre, 34, went to public school in the city.
Heughan grew up in the city but went to high school in the suburbs. Pierre worked as a mechanic. Heughan has been an educational and medical researcher, with degrees in computer engineering and psychology. Pierre was paralyzed in 2015 when he was stabbed in a bar fight. Heughan has been losing her strength for the last 15 years due to an auto-immune disease.
They became friends at One Gurney while waiting for the elevator. Pierre was talking to another resident about video games. Heughan eavesdropped and started to pick Pierre’s brain because she was tired of losing to her 11-year-old nephew. Alland realized that Heughan’s video game experience was limited to basic games like Tetris. He began to school her on Play Station 4. Their conversations led to friendships with other residents in the building.
Pierre and Heughan share a strong desire to take advantage of opportunities Gurney Street has put within their reach. Pierre is exploring academic opportunities at nearby Wentworth and Northeastern, partly to honor his late mother Ginette. “My mother’s been gone seven years. I want to honor her and show her something,” he said.
Heughan feels safe to go out and be part of the community again. She is on the board of the nearby community center and teaches an art class across the street at Maria Sanchez Senior Housing. “My attitude is ‘I’m still here and we all have a purpose,’” she said. “I’ve worked with children who were really sick. In comparison, this is an inconvenience.”