After the official groundbreaking ceremony, Polly Roesch greets Sister Judith Morris, OSF, administrator of St. Joseph’s Home.
On June 16, St. Joseph's Home broke ground for its new dementia center on the southeast side of the existing building at the intersection of Sixth Street and Stevenson Drive in Springfield.
The nearly 20,000-square-foot addition will provide a home for up to 28 persons with dementia who need round-the-clock nursing care and will be licensed as an intermediate nursing care facility. Residents with dementia who live at St. Joseph's Home currently reside in an infirmary building that was constructed in 1967.
The construction project is supported by a $4.75 million fund-raising project called the "Forget-Me-Not" campaign. The campaign is St. Joseph's Home's first major capital campaign in more than 80 years. As of June 16, the campaign had raised about $3 million.
St. Joseph's Home was founded in 1903 by the Sisters of St. Francis of the Immaculate Conception, a community which still owns and operates the facility. The sisters live at the home and supervise the residents' care.
The architectural firm, fwai, designed the addition and Halverson Construction is the general contractor. The architects have planned a structure that allows residents access to the outdoors in complete safety and security. All access to the wing will be through controlled points and the wing has a number of locations that can serve as tribute opportunities. The area will have walkways and natural light throughout the building.
Sister Judith Morris, OSF, administrator of St. Joseph's Home, greeted visitors at the groundbreaking by giving a brief history of the home. She said that over the last decade, ever increasing number of residents suffering from dementia have come to live there.
At the June 16 groundbreaking ceremony, Father Charles Dahlby, chaplain for St. Joseph’s Home in Springfield, blesses the ground where a new dementia center will be built.
"The safest place for them to reside was the original one-story infirmary building," she said. "Although the residents receive excellent care, the facility is inadequate. So, after much prayer, study and planning the sisters and board of St. Joseph's Home made the decision to move forward with an ambitious plan to replace the round building/original infirmary. This would mean, of course, to launch a campaign.
"As dementia touches more and more elderly, we must work together to make sure the families of Springfield have a home where their loved ones are assured of love, dignity, respect and safety in their final years," Sister Judith said. "This is your gift to the future. This is our gift to you."
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