Spirits were high at the Navigator Homes groundbreaking ceremony on Monday as Islanders, politicians and guests celebrated the landmark in affordable housing and nursing care for the Island’s elderly population.
The project will transform the 28-acre plot along Edgartown Vineyard Haven Road into a campus with housing for 70 Island seniors, Navigator Homes nurses and MV Hospital staff. In addtion to a pocket park that sits among the homes, 13 acres of conservation land surround the project.
The project costs a total of $68 million. Construction is expected to end in November of 2025.
Several project leaders, public officials and Islanders gave speeches about the project’s impact, including U.S. Sen. Ed Markey – who helped secure a $53 million loan of USDA funds to develop the project back in January.
“This is something that really makes me proud,” said Mr. Markey. “With today’s groundbreaking, we move closer to guaranteeing that 70 Vineyard residents will be able to age with dignity in their own community.”
Construction on the site has been ongoing since January. The land has been cleared, a road has been installed and utilities are in place.
Several local figures were in the crowd, including district attorney Rob Galibois, Edgartown select board chair Art Smadbeck, and state representative candidate Thomas Moakley. Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) Chief Ryan Malonson, sat in the front of the crowd and spoke about the history of the land where the homes will sit.
Mr. Markey told the crowd that a third of the population on Martha’s Vineyard is above the age of 65 and particularly vulnerable to the national shortage of nursing staff and the affordable housing crisis.
“With our direct care workforce burning out from challenging working conditions leaving facilities struggling to meet demand and our nation facing an affordable housing crisis… we have a moral obligation to ensure every person has a safe, clean, healthy, affordable place to live,” said Mr. Markey.
Scott Soares, the USDA state director for Massachusetts, recounted the time he visited Windemere Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, the facility that Navigator Homes is intended to replace.
“One of the images that stuck with me that day was one of the residents who was wheelchair bound and couldn’t see out the window of the facility that she was in,” Mr. Soares said.
Residents from Windemere will be moved into Navigator Homes as soon as it opens, and the older facility will close.
Hospital president Denise Schepici said that Navigator Homes has been eight years in the making and she read an Irish proverb to the crowd before thanking attendees.
“It is in the shelter of each other that the people live,” Ms. Schepici said. “...I look forward to seeing everyone next year at what I hope will be a different ceremony: a ribbon-cutting and a homecoming.”
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