BY BETTY SCHOENBAECHLER

Special To The Bulletin

ATLANTA--Those who manage the three personal care homes run by the Atlanta Archdiocese look upon the people they care for as family members and the residences they supervise as "homes."

"This is not an institution and it is not a nursing home," said Regina Harris, manager of St. Teresa Manor in Riverdale, one of the three, and assistant director of Catholic Personal Care Homes, Inc., the non-profit which oversees them.

"This is a home. The people who come to live here are treated with love and respect and become a part of our family just as we become a part of theirs."

St. Teresa Manor and St. Thomas Manor in East Point, identical one-story stucco buildings with rocking chair front porches and well-kept gardens, are the newer of the archdiocesan personal care homes, opening in 1989 and 1988 respectively.

Marian Manor in Atlanta, a former convent of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, has offered assisted living for elderly residents since 1984. It sits next door to Immaculate Heart of Mary Church and School on Briarcliff Road, surrounded by mature hardwoods and pines.

All three homes have peaceful chapels where Masses and Communion services are offered.

Up to 15 men and women, the majority 65 and older, reside in each manor. Bedrooms come furnished, but residents personalize theirs with treasured items such as homemade quilts and crafts, photographs of their family and friends, gifts made by grandchildren, and at times, even their own furniture. Each room, or apartment as some call them, captures the unique personality of the resident, and most are eager to show off their personal space. All bedrooms have an emergency call button or pull cord, and each home offers 24-hour supervision and emergency assistance.

The home serves residents nutritious, home-style meals and snacks every day. The staff learns the individual likes and dislikes of the residents and tries to accommodate them, just as they would their own mother or father. The home provides housekeeping and laundry services and each has a beauty salon where a volunteer, or activities and pastoral assistant Sister Jodi Creten, CSJ, care for the residents' hair.

Each home has a large living area off the dining room where residents gather before meals and watch television. There is also a parlor and game room for entertaining guests.

"The most important thing we do for the residents is to give them love and respect and help them make these last years happy ones," said Sister Helen Mick, CSJ, who is the director of all three homes and manager at St. Thomas. "What I tell my staff is, 'We come into their homes and we work for them. We give them love and respect and we treat this as a ministry.'"

"We provide watchful care and protective oversight," said Harris. "I have been here for seven years and this has become more than a job for me. I love these people as I do my own family and I grieve for them when they have to leave us. I spend a great deal of one-on-one time with the residents, sometimes just listening and ministering to their needs."

"Many of our residents are holding on to past hurts and need to find ways to forgive and get past their pain," said Sister Mick. "It is incredible how they minister to each other. They are very open and generous with one another and often find healing through helping others. It's a beautiful thing to witness."

Kathie Barrick, who manages Marian Manor, said that all three homes try to individualize care to fit the resident's personality and needs.

"We respect them by allowing them to make their own decisions. At a nursing home, decisions are made for the residents. Here, we'll ask, for example, 'Do you want help with your bath or do you want us just to stay nearby?'"

Each resident has to have a sponsor, usually the son, daughter, grandchild, niece or nephew who found the home.

"The sponsor is asked to bring Mom or Dad by before they move in," said Harris. "It's imperative for them to see what the home is like. This may not remove all their fears, but it does help them to adjust."

All residents go through a period of adjustment after moving into a personal care home, even if they placed themselves. For some, it's only a couple of weeks, for others, months.

"As people get older, any kind of change is hard for them," said Sister Mick. "Many are giving up homes they've lived in for 40 years to begin sharing living space with 14 other people. People who have grated against change their whole lives will have the hardest time adjusting."

Residents must be ambulatory, meaning they can get around on their own, and they must be able to feed themselves and handle personal care independently. The sponsor is responsible for arranging visits to physicians and dropping off medications.

Pauline Cherry, Marian Manor resident, said of her home, "It's clean, the food is good, and I am very happy here. I have people to talk to." Cherry had been living with her daughter and son-in-law nearby, but was alone during the day.

Ben Tallman, recently placed his father, Irv, at Marian Manor. "I went through a lot of care facilities to find the right one and this is the first one that felt like a home. The people who work there are not like employees. You can tell they love what they do. You can feel the love of God at the home. If I ever have to move into a personal care home myself, I would want to live there."

Tilli Scott visits her mother, Josephine Starrs, at Marian Manor often. She appreciates how the staff nurtures her mother's emotional and spiritual needs and is comforted by the fact her mother is safe and her physical needs are met.

"When I take her away for an afternoon excursion, she tells me when she is ready to go home," Scott said. "She rushes off the phone with me so she won't miss an exercise class with Sister Jodi. She tells me stories about the home, the children who come visit, and 'road trips' with Sister Jodi."

Sister Creten plans activities, offers Communion services, and performs a multitude of other services for the residents.

"Through part of my ministry, I've had to help bathe some of the residents," she said. "When I'm washing their feet it puts me right in the Gospel, and I say to myself, this is what Jesus did. It is the most humbling experience I've ever had. Every time we minister to them, we are at the feet of Jesus."

"Elderly people tend to get shelved because they are no longer producing," said Sister Creten. "Society says, if you are not producing, you have no value. We can learn so much from the elderly because they have lived very full lives and are in a different place on their journey than we are."

"For me, the biggest misconception our society has about the elderly is they have no value," said Sister Mick. "A lot of people write off the elderly. In fact, the elderly do it to themselves. I believe that every person has value simply because they are created by God. This is a huge area of "Respect Life" that often gets overlooked. I had an experience during my time at the motherhouse where I helped build up a nursing wing. We had to bring one of the sisters who was in a coma home from the hospital. When I walked into her room, the presence of God was so profound for me. Even though that person lying there was what most people would call a shell, God was present and was emanating from her. She still had value through God."

"We do great work with these older people," Sister Mick said of the three manors. "We love them and we minister to them. We keep them as long as possible, and when the time comes they need more care than we can provide, we help their family find a new facility."

Volunteers and visitors are most welcome. The residents love the children who visit and the gifts they bring. St. Thomas has a volunteer who comes weekly to mend residents' clothes and to visit. All three homes have volunteers who plant flower gardens. Marian Manor needs someone now who is willing to do some yard work, especially raking leaves. The home could also use some updated beauty salon equipment.

Marian Manor is located at 2801 Briarcliff Road, NE, telephone (404) 982-0606. St. Thomas Manor is located at 3409 Washington Road, East Point, telephone (404) 669-0143. St. Teresa Manor is located at 277 Medical Way, Riverdale, telephone (770) 996-8707.