by George Lewinnek ·
Friday, May 1, 2026
At its meeting on April 13, the Harvard Board of Health voted unanimously to find an occupied house in Harvard unfit for habitation and ordered that it be vacated by May 1.
The occupant and her son did not object.
At the meeting, Jim Garreffi, director of public health at Nashoba Associated Boards of Health (NABH), said that they learned midwinter that there was a house in Harvard without running water. The NABH asked for a plumbing report and arranged for one of their nurses to make a wellness check. Reports came back that something had happened to the water supply between the well and the house during the winter so that only a trickle made it to the house—enough to slowly fill the toilet tank but not enough for other purposes. In addition, the heating system no longer worked. The occupant managed with space heaters and bottled water. Damaged ceilings indicated a leaking roof.
Back on March 18, Garreffi had met with the homeowner and her younger son to, as he put it, “chart a path forward.” She had been looking for another place to live in her old age, but without success. NABH would consider a path forward that led either to remediating the defects in the house or to vacating the house, and NABH would allow time for either, Garreffi said. “We can make someone homeless or we can work with them to get them to the finish, so it’s a challenge,” he added.
The homeowner had first contacted Harvard’s Council on Aging several years ago, after her husband died. Now the COA connected her and her son with Oasis, a home health care agency that could help her find a new place to live. The son had learned just three hours before the April 13 meeting that a place would be available on May 1 at an assisted living facility in Fitchburg. Before the Harvard Board of Health committed itself, Chair Chris Mitchell asked the son how his mother felt.
He replied, “She is excited about getting out.”
His mother, who was listening from outside the camera’s view, spoke up: “I’ve had enough of this house.”
After hearing this, the Harvard Board of Health voted unanimously to declare the house unfit as of April 30 and to require that it be vacated no later than May 1.
The homeowner said she appreciated the help of Jen Schoenberg of the Council on Aging, who has guided her through this process. The COA did not solve her problem, but they did put her in touch with those who could help at Oasis.
On May 1, the homeowner will move out of the house that she has lived in for more than 40 years. She lived there with her husband until his death four years ago, and with her two sons until they became adults. Two of her three cats have died of old age. The third, her main companion in recent years, will go to her son. The family Bible, in which she recorded marriages, births, and deaths, will go with her to assisted living. She reports that a neighbor who wants the land has bought the property. He plans to tear down the house.
Schoenberg, an outreach coordinator at Harvard’s Council on Aging, said they are a resource for other older residents in town who have difficulties. The help may be advice or it may be referrals to other agencies with the needed capabilities. The telephone number for the COA is 978-456-4120.