Riverdale Site Chosen For Third Personal Care Home

By Paula Day

In fulfillment of a pledge to Catholics of the archdiocese, a third personal care home for the elderly will soon be under construction.

Site of the residence, whose program will be modeled on the present Marian Manor in DeKalb County, is 1.4 acres at the northside corner of River Park Drive and Medical Way in Riverdale, a few blocks west of Clayton General Hospital.

Catholic Social Services obtained zoning approval for the project March 24. Groundbreaking will take place in the near future. The Clayton County facility will permit 15 elderly persons to remain independent in a controlled setting, according to Sister Teresa Termini, director of the archdiocese’s programs for the elderly.

Steve Brazen, interim director of CSS, hopes the building will be ready for occupancy “by the early part of next year.” Brazen noted that although it took awhile, CSS is “making good a pledge” made in 1983. Funds allocated from a special Capital Funds Drive conducted by the archdiocese at that time were to be used for three personal care homes for the frail elderly.

Marian Manor, remodeled convent at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish, has been operative since November 1984. Ground was broken for the second personal care home, to be located in East Point, on Jan. 23 of this year.

Brazen points out that constructing the two facilities simultaneously allows for bulk buying of furnishings. Architects from the firm of Thompson, Hancock and Witte are planning both structures. Plans are similar. Total cost for the home will be about $750,000, according to Brazen.

Like Marian Manor, there will be a chapel where daily Communion services will be held and Mass celebrated on Sunday and holy days.

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.

The Riverdale facility will be centrally located between St. John the Evangelist Church in Hapeville and St. Philip Benizi in Jonesboro. One advantage will be its proximity to a hospital, doctors’ offices and other medical care-giving facilities.

Four full-time staff members and one part-time employee will be assisted by volunteers from the community. Occupants will be elderly who can no longer live alone but who do not need nursing care. Meals, laundry and housekeeping services as well as opportunities for spiritual and social activities will be provided.

The project has been well received in the community, Brazen said. Marian Manor’s reputation as a personal care home has been an excellent recommendation for this similar facility under archdiocesan administration, according to Sister Teresa. Riverdale’s mayor, Andy Carpenter, said, “We feel real good about the facility. It’ll be an asset to Riverdale. We know it’ll be operated first class.”