By Paula Day

The dedication by Archbishop Eugene A. Marino of St. Teresa’s Manor on April 16 realized a dream and fulfilled a commitment to the people of the archdiocese.

The personal care home for the elderly at 277 Medical Way in Riverdale is the last of three such facilities funded by the archdiocesan Capital Funds Drive of 1983.

According to archdiocesan finance department figures, 1,287 donors earmarked more than $1 million for building or endowing the proposed personal care homes. Additional unrestricted funds from the Drive underwrote the over $2 million cost of the project.

Steve Brazen, executive director of Catholic Social services, under whose auspices Catholic Personal Care Homes, Inc. is administered, pointed out that the dedication marked the closure of the last construction project stemming from the Drive. Because of the donations, the three personal care homes are debt-free and fees from residents can go solely to operating costs.

For Sister Teresa Termini, C.S.J., the dedication means the fulfillment of a dream which began almost a decade ago.

In 1977, Sister Teresa, who is CSS’ program director of services to the elderly, worked for the opening of an archdiocesan nursing care home. The needed state certification was granted, the architect’s plans completed, the site chosen, furnishings ordered. But high interest rates at the time doomed that version of assistance to the elderly. The project was not financially feasible.

“That was a disappointment, and not only for me,” Sister Teresa recalled. Archbishop Thomas Donnellan and a Sister of Mercy who had worked on the planning with Sister Teresa also saw their hopes frustrated. “Even the state planning office was disappointed,” Sister Teresa said.

An alternative plan to nursing homes for the elderly began to evolve in the early 1980s. Called personal care homes, the concept recognized that many elderly do not need 24-hour professional nursing care, but some frail elderly do need the security of 24-hour supervision. With that supervision those who are mobile can maintain a degree of freedom in a homelike setting and still be assisted with baths, if necessary; reminded of medication; provided with appropriate activities; and, in the process, stave off premature confinement in nursing home. With a growing population of independent but frail elderly, the concept of personal care homes was an idea ready to come into its own.

Monies from the 1983 Capital Funds Drive were allocated to buy property, construct new or remodel existing structures, and furnish three personal care homes.

Originally, planners hoped that vacated convents could be remodeled as residences suited to the needs of the elderly. Ramps, grab bars and rails along the walls were installed in the convent at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish on Briarcliff Road in northeast Atlanta. With other modifications, the remodeled convent became Marian Manor, the first of the Catholic personal care homes. It was dedicated in 1984.

Four years later the other two facilities have become reality. They were built as new, one-story structures, one in East Point, the other in Riverdale.

St. Thomas Manor in East point, dedicated Oct. 2, 1988, and St. Teresa’s Manor in Riverdale, blessed April 16, are mirror images. The stucco structures have chapels where Catholic residents may be nourished spiritually at daily Communion services.

Father Lou Perpete, M.S., a priest in residence at Most Blessed Sacrament parish, celebrates Mass twice a week at St. Thomas Manor. Plans are underway to provide weekly Mass for St. Teresa’s residents.

The homes have individual private bedrooms with wall-to-wall carpeting, roomy closets and comfortable furnishings. One bath connects two bedrooms. Licensed to accommodate 15 residents, they offer such amenities as a breakfast nook with a dinette for mid-morning cups of coffee and chats with the cook, and garden areas where residents can exercise their green thumbs. Services include family-style meals, housekeeping, personal laundry care, emergency assistance and social work services.

The archdiocese does not subsidize operating costs of the homes. These costs are covered by the resident fee, at present $950 a month, and by a small private grant, according to Carolynn Pierce.

Mrs. Pierce, who is director of Catholic Personal Care Homes, Inc., said keeping the fee at that level for at least four years is one of her goals.

“Although we’re Church related,’ she said, “we’re not supported by the Church. Being non-profit means that what we take in, in terms of revenue, goes out for expenses.”

“We rely on community support,” she added. “The interest and concern of community folks is one reason we’re successful today and will continue to be successful.”

Providing services to meet the needs of the elderly is many-faceted and CSS is involved in planning and implementing these services. While Sister Teresa retains her other dream of an archdiocesan-sponsored nursing home, Steve Brazen has “a long-term dream to have an Alzheimer’s unit” for those afflicted with that disease. More immediately, Brazen said CSS is looking at possible sites for retirement facilities for those with moderate incomes.

Commenting on the completion of the personal care homes, Brazen said, “One image that describes the whole process is the dynamic of collaboration and collegiality in the project,” both within Catholic Social Services and among the Chancery, the Finance Department and CSS.

“It was a fine example of the Church working in a collaborative way and making a major project come into being,” he said.

Between 175 and 200 people attended the dedication of St. Teresa’s, according to Sister Loretta Costa, C.S.J., manager. During the ceremony Archbishop Marino went throughout the building, praying for specific blessings appropriate to each room, and sprinkling the area with holy water. The guests were served refreshments after the blessing.

For Sister Teresa, the dedication of the last of the three personal care homes fulfilled a dream.

“I feel a sense of accomplishment, and of joy, and of thanksgiving to God,” she said. “It has been a long journey - a journey and a dream.”

For further information about the personal care homes, interested persons may contact director Carolynn Pierce at 669-0119.