By Gretchen Keiser

A key aspect of the archdiocesan campaign is to reach out to the needs of the elderly, a dream which has been delayed in the past because of other pressing demands upon Atlanta’s financial resources.

This campaign includes $1.5 million to start what is designed to be a pilot program to provide an “alternative” for some of the elderly living in the archdiocese – those who are too frail to continue living on their own in homes and apartments, but who are not in need of constant skilled nursing care.

Under this proposal, three archdiocesan convents – Immaculate Heart of Mary in northeast Atlanta, St. Thomas More in Decatur and St. Paul of the Cross in northwest Atlanta – would be renovated and converted into “personal care homes” for a small group of elderly men and women. In these homes, up to 15 people would live in private rooms, but share dining and living room space and meals, and be under the care of a staff 24 hours a day.

In addition to meeting the needs of some elderly, the renovation program brings back into full use convents which have been underutilized as the number of vocations decreased and as sisters moved into other living arrangements such as sharing apartments.

The funds will be divided so that one million dollars is spent renovating the convents and $500,000 is used as an endowment fund to continue to provide support for the personal care homes in future years.

Sister Teresa Termini, C.S.J., head of elderly services in Catholic Social Services, said the location on parish grounds is “ideal.” The closeness to the church obviously helps to make Mass and the sacraments easily available to those living in the homes. In addition, a small chapel will be built in each home as part of the renovation, Sister Teresa said. But she also hopes for wider interaction between the parish and the home, particularly since each of the three pilot locations also has an elementary school on the parish grounds, providing a convenient way for children and the elderly to be together.

The plan for “personal care homes” came about gradually, Sister Teresa said, after larger plans to build a Catholic nursing home proved to be too expensive for the archdiocese during recent years of high interest rates. “We had to put that aside and look for other alternatives to help our elderly people,” she said. The suggestion was made to try something on a smaller scale and to try something that would meet the needs of those elderly who are not in need of a nursing home.

While the Atlanta proposal is not unique nationally, it is among the first to propose such a use for convents, Sister Teresa said.

The hope is to provide something which does not compete with what is already available for the elderly – such as senior citizens housing or nursing home care – but which fills in a gap in the types of care available.

“Nursing homes are necessary for some people. We need the nursing homes,” Sister Teresa stressed. “But the point of the personal care home is to service people who do not need that skilled nursing care. Some people have been placed in nursing homes prematurely and so not need this level of care, this costly care.”

She used the term “frail elderly” to describe those she hopes will be helped by the new homes. They do not need constant medical care, but do need the sheltering, protective environment of a place where their meals are provided, where their health and nutrition are guarded and where, should they need special help, someone will be available around the clock to respond.

As planned, the homes will be under the supervision of Catholic Social Services and will be staffed by home managers, a social worker, a part-time nurse, a maid and a cook.

While they are located in particular parishes, Sister Teresa stressed that they are an archdiocesan project and will be open to elderly from throughout the archdiocese. In addition, it is hoped that these three – the first of which will be Immaculate Heart of Mary – will be the beginning of a wider program of satellite “personal care homes” for the elderly throughout the archdiocese.