By Gretchen Keiser

A home in East Point for 15 elderly people should be open this fall, the second of three personal care homes for the elderly planned by the archdiocese.

The site for the new home was blessed and the first shovelsful of dirt turned over Saturday, Jan. 23, by Monsignor John McDonough and other representatives of the archdiocese and Catholic Social Services.

The land, a five-acre parcel, is off Washington Road, a major route dividing East Point and College Park. An elderly woman, Mary Chance, who lives in an adjoining house, sold the parcel to the archdiocese and will continue to be a neighbor of the personal care home.

While the first such archdiocesan facility, Marian Manor, was remodeled into a residence for the elderly after serving as a convent, this facility will be new construction. It will be paid for from funds raised during the 1983 Capital Funds Drive in the archdiocese, but once it opens, it will become self-supporting and self-sustaining, as is Marian Manor.

Architect Bill Foley from the firm of Thompson, Hancock and Witte, said that in planning the new home he tried to repeat the best features of Marian Manor which he called one of the “best quality of life residences for the elderly in Atlanta.” Because the East Point facility is new construction, it will have some features that Marian Manor does not have, such as semi-private bathrooms shared by two bedrooms, and construction all on one floor.

On a wooded site, the home will have a kitchen, living room, dining room, activity room, beauty shop area, telephone lounge and parlor, in addition to 15 bedrooms. Like Marian Manor, there will be a chapel where daily Communion services will be held and Mass celebrated on Sunday and holy days. Among the special features will be vaulted living room, terraces off the front and off the dining room and a walking path around the grounds.

“The walking paths will allow (residents) to get out and use the site,” Foley said, describing the area as a “gorgeous, shaded, cool” place in the summertime.

Keeping the number of residents to 15 people, the same as at Marian Manor, keeps the residence small enough to permit homey touches, such as the opportunity to sit around the kitchen table to chat and have a cup of coffee. Under state guidelines, more stringent institutional regulations come into play when facilities have more than 15 residents.

Among those taking part in the groundbreaking ceremony, in addition to Monsignor McDonough, archdiocesan administrator, were Steve Brazen, interim director of Catholic Social Services; Sister Teresa Termini, C.S.J., director of CSS Services for the Elderly; Father Peter Ludden, chancellor, and Deacon Bill Lyday, vice chancellor.

The site is close to several parishes, including Blessed Sacrament and St. Paul of the Cross in Atlanta and St. John the Evangelist in Hapeville. Marian Manor is on the grounds of Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Atlanta, and is the former parish convent. It was renovated and opened in November, 1984.

Personal care homes provide residence for people who need some assistance with meals, laundry and personal care, but who do not need the specialized care of a nursing home. People in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s have been living at Marian Manor with the assistance of 24-hour staff and the support of many parish and school volunteers who have adopted “the Manor” and its residents.

Looking at the plans for the new home, Sister Carol Bartol, G.N.S.H., manager of Marian Manor, said, “I think it’s delightful – it really is.” Incorporating the good features of the Manor, the new facility will be able to eliminate “any of the little problems” in design because of the experience gained at the Manor, she said.

Construction is expected to begin in the next few weeks and to be completed by the fall, Foley said.

Mrs. Chance, who came out on her porch to watch the groundbreaking festivities, said the coming of the home as a neighbor resolved a feud with her children, who were insisting that she move out of her home. Now she can stay, she said, with neighbors who will also have her welfare in mind.

“I didn’t want to leave home,” she said. “This has been home for 60 years.”