About Brighton Marine
Brighton Marine’s commitment to our Veterans is steadfast and ongoing. At Brighton Marine, we never forget the sacrifice made by those who have served.
Brighton Marine's Mission
America’s Veterans answered the call when their country needed them. Throughout its history, the United States has committed to honoring and caring for its Veterans. Brighton Marine has a proud record of keeping this promise to Veterans, a mission that continues to this day.
We fulfill this mission by providing health, home and hope to Veterans and their families.
Our History
Since 1983, Brighton Marine has been a vital social service resource to the Allston-Brighton community and to its Veterans. In addition to partners located on its campus, Brighton Marine has extended its support and partnerships to multiple organizations in the City of Boston throughout the years.
Whether it is assisting the effort to end Veteran homelessness, empowering local youths or improving the cityscape of Brighton, Brighton Marine’s efforts have earned it a reputation as a strong community presence and trusted partner in social services.
Our History
Even as its main focus is to serve veterans and their families, Brighton Marine and its predecessor, the U.S. Marine Hospital, has maintained to serve the needs of the Allston-Brighton community.
At its campus at 77 Warren Street in Brighton, Brighton Marine hosts 10 organizations providing medical care and services for military veterans and non-military personnel.
Our History
The roots of Brighton Marine extend back to 1798, when John Adams was president and Congress was meeting for only the fifth time. The new nation’s leaders recognized that foreign trade was necessary to grow the economy and that healthy merchant seamen were needed to enable that commerce. So, Congress passed “An Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen,” which provided funding for the Marine Hospital Service.
Over time the Boston-area Marine Hospital Service moved from Boston Harbor, to Charlestown to Chelsea, before its final stop in Brighton in 1940. By then the Seamen and Sailors Act, as it is sometimes called, had expanded to include funding for a greater array of community services and the Marine Hospital Service had evolved into the Public Health Service which included a network of public hospitals under its umbrella.
Our History
In the 1980s, the federal government decided to close many of the hospitals around the country within the public hospital system, including Brighton Marine. But the service Veterans who lived in the Allston-Brighton area were not ready to let it go.
They formed Brighton Marine (then called the Allston-Brighton Aid and Health Group) and successfully petitioned the federal government to allow them to take over the property and continue medical services for veterans. Veteran care continued to be a priority, but Brighton Marine also operates the property for a robust list of community-oriented health care and social services tenants.
Our Services
Housing Support
After several years of sharing its vision, negotiating and creating partnerships, Brighton Marine embarked on its most ambitious project to date: the development of The Residences at Brighton Marine, more than 100 units of affordable housing along Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton with preference to Veterans and their families.
Veterans Housing at Brighton Marine is an affordable housing facility featuring 25 apartments specifically for vulnerable Boston-area Veterans. The facility is fitted with state-of-the-art conferencing technology to support tele-health needs for Veteran residents, is fully furnished and includes a full kitchen and private bathrooms.
Health Care
Over the years, the medical services segment has evolved into today’s partnership with the Uniformed Services Family Health Plan (USFHP). USFHP is a TRICARE Prime military health plan sponsored by the Department of Defense (DoD) that provides comprehensive care for military and retiree families.
USFHP members have access to some of the best hospitals and physicians in the nation. For 20 consecutive years, US Family Health Plan has far surpassed the member satisfaction rates of other managed care plans in the nation.
Financial Support
In August 2015, Brighton Marine established an endowment fund to assist in ending veteran homelessness. The fund is administered by Brighton Marine to fund cost gaps associated with housing veterans under the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program.
Disbursements made from the fund cover costs associated with housing the homeless Veterans who are not covered by public funding. Some of these costs include security deposits, temporary housing costs and brokers’ fees. To date, 264 veterans have benefited by payments made on their behalf and have attained permanent housing with assistance from the Fund.
Community and Virtual Services
The Brighton Marine vision does not end with housing. It includes the creation of a physical and virtual hub of services only a short walk from their front door.
Our goal is to eliminate the challenge of finding needed services for the veteran, family member or care giver by placing access in one location. We also expect our concept of a centralized hub to create synergy and partnerships between resident organizations, allowing them to be better together.
