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Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodist News |
March 2002 |
User-friendly retirement
The changing face of United Methodist residence communities
By Mary Lou Howey
Special to the Hoosier UM News
From humble beginnings, the United Methodist residence communities have grown into spacious, technologically advanced facilities offering "care with love and love with care" to hundreds of Indiana elderly.
From structures built as an alternative to the "county home" or to house pastors who had always lived in parsonages and lacked means to purchase retirement homes, the six Indiana facilities now feature cottages for independent living, assisted living apartments and well-staffed health care units. All are committed to caring for residents whose money hasn't lasted as long as they have.
Oldest of the communities by far is the UM Memorial Home at Warren. In 1907, William and Ruth Chopsen of Warren gave $25,000, which was matched by the Church. The Chopsens then donated 200 acres of farmland where the home had its own dairy, pigs and chickens and crops to feed the animals as well as the residents. Warren Home gave up farming, however, in the early 1970s; much of the land is income property now.
Currently there are 515 residents on campus, with a staff of 400, and 120 on a satellite facility in Huntington, where there is a staff of 100.
Administrator David Souder said Warren Home gets no assistance from the NIC, by choice, but maintains in close affiliation.
Warren has been through a recent period of expansion, doubling the size of its Alzheimer unit and adding a swimming pool, fitness facilities and a library with computer access. A nine-hole golf course is being built.
"We try to stay current," said Souder. "People have told us what they want."
Hamilton Communities dates to 1922, when it was established by Armintia Hubbard in memory of her husband. Mrs. Hubbard donated her farm and money for the original building, Epp Hall, to the Evangelical Association. Its purpose was to care for pastors and widows of the Evangelical and then the Evangelical United Brethren churches. The corporate name now is the Haven Hubbard Home of the UMC. There are 302 residents on campus, and a staff of 185.
Besides Epp Hall for those needing financial assistance, Hamilton has The Villas homes, The Pointe apartments, Hamilton Grove Health Care Center, and Chicago Trail Village, which offers HUD-subsidized housing.
Hamilton receives funds from the NIC, and also from some individual churches and Golden Cross offerings.
The Franklin Community is home to 535 residents in cottages, apartments and a health center. There are 300 employees and a $13 million yearly budget, of which $40,000 comes from the SIC.
The conference's alternative to the old county homes, Franklin Home has always stressed quality of life for the residents, who in the early days had to be able to walk in and care for themselves.
"We've changed," said executive director the Rev. Joseph Trueblood, "from a small home for the aged to a modern, technologically advanced community."
The Rev. John Mann Walker, a pastor serving Methodist churches in southern Indiana, first shared his vision of such a home in 1926, but the idea lay dormant for 20 years. Work toward its establishment began in the late 1940s, and ground was broken in 1955. The 40 acres of land was a gift of Grace Methodist Church and the Franklin Chamber of Commerce. Each promised to raise $6,000, and the owner, Maggie White, agreed to sell the land for the $12,000. The Franklin Community site now totals 120 acres.
Plans for Wesley Manor began in 1956, when Mr. and Mrs. Oliver M. Reid of Frankfort provided funds to purchase 33 acres of land. Additional acreage was acquired in 1969 and 1995, bringing today's total to 83 acres. Construction began in 1958, and the first residents were welcomed in 1961.
Now there are 370 residents receiving four levels of care from a staff of 240. Currently there are 20 to 25 retired ministers and wives, or pastors' widows, in residence.
Wesley Manor receives funds from NIC, and also has an endowment fund of more than $500,000 being used to help a small number of residents in need. President and CEO Ron Kelly said that changes in recent years include having directors, now, from a business background rather than the ministry. Directors must pay attention to business and plan for future growth while maintaining the same ministry guidelines.
Kelly commented that Wesley Manor has rebounded from financial problems in the 1970s, and that debt is paid. Expansion of the health center is planned in the next three years.
Asbury Towers in Greencastle is a smaller facility, with 71 residents in the tower and 29 in cottages. It was founded in 1964 by three local residents to provide choice in retirement living. Like all the UM communities, it doesn't require membership in the denomination. It does receive support from the SIC and has an endowment fund. Its benevolence fund assists several of the residents.
Glenburn Home in Linton is undergoing expansion, said John Lawson, executive director. The health center renovation is almost completed, and in March or April work will begin on independent and assisted living apartments. A new chapel also is being completed. The home has an outpatient rehabilitation center, adult day care and community center.
"We started on faith and a shoestring," said Lawson. In the early days the purpose was to provide help for people without financial resources. Now about two-thirds of the residents in the health center cannot pay the full cost of their care. Glenburn has 142 residents, cared for by 216 employees.
Glenburn gets assistance from the SIC and from individual churches, especially in the Bloomington and Vincennes districts, who provide money and volunteers. The home was established in 1946. Since 1994 it has been a subsidiary corporation of the Franklin UM Home.
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"The bottom line is to still have the attitude of care. We must make changes but still have our roots in the Christian heritage." --Joseph Trueblood |
Besides the obvious great change in facilities, the home administrators have observed many additional changes since the early days.
One is that people are waiting longer to enter the retirement facilities and are arriving older and frailer. The expansion of Alzheimer units is needed as more are arriving in various stages of dementia.
Residents who request the independent living areas, and some in assisted living, have a bigger wish list -- fitness equipment, for example.
Planning ahead for the retirement of the Baby Boomers is a big consideration. In Johnson County, the number of people 85 and older is expected to increase 150 percent in the next 10 years, said Trueblood. And then, of course, qualified staff people must be hired, who can relate to the residents and have their well being at heart.
"The bottom line," Trueblood said, "is to still have the attitude of care. We must make changes but still have our roots in the Christian heritage."
Last updated on 01/14/2004