By Dan Murphy
Beacon Hill Friends House has fostered a cooperative residential community rooted in Quaker values in the neighborhood since 1957, even though many residents likely aren’t even aware that this unique, independent nonprofit has been operating in their midst for many decades.
The organization operates out of a historic 1805 Charles Bulfinch-designed double-townhouse at 6 and 8 Chestnut St., which provides a cooperative living space for between 18 and 22 people each year.
Jennifer Newman, executive director of BHFH, discovered the organization soon after moving to Boston in the summer of 2017 as a then 23-year-old recent graduate from a master’s program in theological studies degree at Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, Tenn.
“I felt really drawn to Quaker practices and knew I wanted to make it my religious life, so I sought out Quaker opportunities in Boston,” recalled the native Californian during a recent phone call.
Newman, who was then working in the field of non-profit outreach and advocacy for The Public Interest Network, went to her first BHFH meeting. She was intrigued hearing about the group’s Strategic Master Plan, which was then underway. Newman was soon enlisted as the clerk of the BHFH’s Quaker Learning Committee in July 2017 and later became its chair. She also served on the BHFH board.
In mid-2018, Newman became a BHFH resident as well, when a space opened up there.
BHFH offers rolling admissions, so new residents come on board as others leave. Residential openings are promoted via the Foundation for International Community website, as well as marketed to students through social media. Other applicants hear directly about BHFH from former residents themselves.
After receiving a pool of applications for its residential openings, they are reviewed by an internal board, and applicants who are expected to be the best fit for the community, are then selected through the process.
The residents share Quaker values and want to live ‘communally’ and ‘intentionally,’ although they don’t necessarily all practice Quakerism as their religious faith. They live in a mix of single and double rooms and share use of two kitchens, as well as the use of many common areas.
Residents share meals together, including five house dinners cooked each week by the resident staff and provided as part of their monthly rent. They also share chores and work together to maintain the residence, as well as enjoy activities, educational programs, and retreats together.
Residents can live at BHFH for up to four years, but most stay there for two years on average. They are a multi-cultural group, as well as multi-generational, although most residents are generally between their early 20s and their 70s.
Many residents come to live at BHFH during transitional times in their lives, said Newman. In addition to recent graduates from master’s programs like herself, they also often include recent retirees, along with others who’ve relocated to Boston for work.
“It was such a unique experience living with so many people across different ages and race and with different religious and cultural experience,” said Newman of her experience as a BHFH resident. (Newman and the organization’s assistant director both now live on site in staff housing.)
Besides its residential community, BHFH is also home to Beacon Hill Friends Meeting – a self-described “inclusive Quaker religious community in Boston.”
Beacon Hill Friends Meeting and BHFH are “intertwined,” said Newman, with many former BHFH residents going on to serve on the Friends Meeting board.
BHFH also rents space in its 1921 ballroom, which has a meeting room that holds 75 occupants, to a number of community organizations, including Beacon Hill Seminars, as well as for Boston Early Music Festival concerts.
While BHFH may not be that well known in the neighborhood, the organization has still managed to attract the largesse of some high-profile benefactors.
BHFH received a $500,000 Community Preservation Act grant from the city in 2023, as well as another $9,680 CPA grant the following year. This year, BHFH was the recipient of a $491,018 CPA grant.
BHFH also recently awarded a generous grant from the Legacy Fund for Boston – a public charity which uses contributions and grants from private developers and city agencies for the mitigation of private development projects built in Boston.
Moreover, BHFH received a grant from the Beacon Hill Civic Association per its 2023 Community Grants program, which supports community-based program that enhance the quality of life for residents in the neighborhood through various projects and programs.
The grant money BHFH has received to date has been used to help underwrite the cost of replacing the severely deteriorated roof and decking on the building’s rear ell, which had last been renovated in 1995, as well as for myriad structural improvements to the property.
“We see ourselves as both stewards of the past and builders of the future,” said Newman. “The repairs we’ve completed with support from the Boston Community Preservation Act [among other funding sources] aren’t just about stabilizing historic wood and masonry. They’re about keeping this deeply lived-in space open, safe, and welcoming to the public for years to come.”
Interested in learning more firsthand about Beacon Hill Friends House?
If so, BHFH will hold its annual Summer Cookout on Saturday, July 12, from noon to 3 p.m. Visit bhfh.org to R.S.V.P. and for more information.