At The Boston Home, People With MS Are Not Just Surviving. They Are Living.

There are nursing facilities, and then there is The Boston Home.

Tucked into the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, The Boston Home has been caring for adults with advanced multiple sclerosis (MS) and progressive neurological conditions since 1881 — a 145-year legacy of specialized, deeply human care that is almost impossible to find anywhere else in the country. With 96 inpatient beds, a nationally recognized clinical team, and a community built on friendship, purpose and the radical belief that a full life is possible at any stage of MS, The Boston Home stands apart.

At the helm is Christine Reilly, a self-described Type A overachiever who also has MS herself. In honor of World MS Day, The Educated Patient sat down with Christine to talk about what makes The Boston Home unlike anywhere else — and what she wants every patient and family navigating an MS diagnosis to know.

A Community, Not Just a Care Setting

The Boston Home holds the designation of a Center of Excellence for Long-Term Care from the National MS Society, and the clinical expertise behind that recognition runs deep. But when asked what truly sets the place apart, Christine does not lead with credentials.

“I think, you know, aside from all of the technical, the part that is most special is our sense of community,” she says. “Our residents — we have 96 amazing people who live here and 240 amazing people who work here — and the friendships that develop between residents and residents, residents and staff, are truly so important when you are living with a progressive disease.”

That community has a reach beyond its physical walls. Through The Boston Home’s virtual B.Fit! Wellness Program, people living with MS across the country can participate in programming and connect with others navigating the same journey. One woman from another part of the country met a resident from Massachusetts through the program and eventually planned a visit to meet her in person — a friendship born through a screen, made real by shared experience.

Leading Through a Different Lens

Christine’s connection to The Boston Home is not just professional. It is profoundly personal. She was diagnosed with MS after joining the organization, and the experience of living with the disease has fundamentally changed the way she leads.

“With every decision I make, I truly put myself in that chair,” she says. “I understand when our residents may talk about fatigue — I get it. I know what that feels like. It is a different tired. I get that no matter what stage you are at with your disease process, there’s grieving.”

That shared bond — between a CEO and her residents, between people who understand each other in ways that others simply cannot — is at the heart of what The Boston Home offers. One resident, who had come from another facility before moving in, put it simply: “At the other facility I was existing,” she told Christine. “And here at The Boston Home, I am living.”

Anything Is Possible

Christine is insistent on this point: A progressive neurological condition does not set a ceiling on what a person can accomplish or experience. At The Boston Home, residents attend Red Sox games and concerts, visit museums and advocate at the State House. They paint watercolors — some having never picked up a brush before — whose work Christine describes as “absolutely exquisite.” A selection will be on display and for sale at the upcoming Resident Art Show on June 11, with proceeds going directly to the artists themselves.

A group of residents are currently launching their own podcast, named Rolling Home, after one resident brought years of public radio experience and another brought a background in sound and music production. They have already appeared on the DotLife podcast to talk about life at The Boston Home and what is ahead for their own show. “It gives such a sense of purpose,” Christine says. “They have the most severe disabilities as a result of the progression of the disease, yet they are motivated and happy and wanting to do more.”

She recalls one resident who arrived completely paralyzed, having spent her days moving from bed to chair and back again at home. Within weeks of arriving at The Boston Home, she was driving a power wheelchair with a head array, checking out books from the Boston Public Library online, advocating at the State House and attending every activity on the calendar. “I really believe it extended her life,” Christine says. “And her husband could then be her husband and not her caregiver.”

The Funding Gap Nobody Talks About

The Boston Home is a nonprofit, and the work it does is expensive. Staffing levels run roughly three times higher than a typical skilled nursing facility — because the level of need demands it. The organization makes up a $3.5 million annual gap between Medicaid reimbursement and actual costs through its endowment, fundraising and grants.

“Reimbursement doesn’t match what our costs are,” Christine says plainly. That gap is why philanthropy is not a nice-to-have — it is what keeps The Boston Home’s doors open and its standard of care exceptional. The organization recently earned its third consecutive deficiency-free survey from the Department of Public Health, a distinction Christine calls “pretty unheard of in our arena.”

What the Future Holds

The Boston Home is also an active partner in MS research. Through The Boston Home Institute, the organization shares its clinical expertise nationally. Locally, it participates in the CASA-MS study with the University of Buffalo, working with Robert Zivadinov, M.D., Ph.D., to measure disease progression through MRI.

“We hope they find a cure,” Christine says. “That is what we pray for every day. And our residents love being part of the research — to hopefully someday there won’t be any.”

On this World MS Day, Christine’s message to patients, families and anyone navigating an MS diagnosis is the same message she carries into every room at The Boston Home: “Anything is possible. Anything.”