Addolorata Villa

Title: The Story of Addolorata Villa
Time: 7 min 42 sec

Description:

Learn the history behind Addolorata Villa as we celebrate our 75th anniversary."

Transcript:

[Music] it's pretty amazing to consider that the story of a dollar ah develop began over 700 years ago when Saint Juliana founded the servants of Mary in Italy a community of women who resolved to work among the poor sick and the agent today our community is a part of franciscan ministries and the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago which was founded in 1894 similar to the servants of Mary Mother Mary Teresa founded such a religious congregation of women after being moved by the great need for the city's aged infirmed and poor our continuing care community celebrated 75 years of compassionate service in 2017 for Servite sisters who sought to establish a Servite foundation in America inspired our community's humble beginnings that included mother of Alphonse Bradley who founded the Servite sisters of Lady Smith in 1912 mother Alphonse Bradley shared plans to open a convalescent home in Wheeling in 1936 which became a dollar at a villa the name was the idea of Cardinal Samuel stretches and means Our Lady of Sorrows the first residents were blessed to begin calling a dollar on a villa home in 1942 eight years later the community added new facilities including a large chapel dining room multiple offices and 50 sheltered care units in the late 1980s $1 aa Davila continued to evolve to the growing needs of seniors by becoming a continuing care community we added the independent living sheltered care intermediate care and skilled care the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago began sponsoring $1 at a villa in 1997 in 2002 our community once again adapted to the growing needs of seniors and their families by offering assisted living as well as a memory care unit for those suffering from Alzheimer's and other dementia today our community is blessed to have a loving well-trained staff that happily serves more than 300 residents while promoting joyful living when we walked in the front door the first thing I was aware of was a couple of people laughing and I just heard the laugh come down the corridor and I thought well with that laughing going on I just enjoyed that so much that I was already kind of susceptible to living here here it was kind of different when I came in it has a different feeling as you walk in the building and it was the openness and the sincerity which everybody greets you with but it was just it made you feel very much at home once I walked up the steps of the front door and into the chapel area there I felt that this is some place I wanted to be there was some feeling walking into this place of a spiritual but also family everyone says that as they walk in the door they say you know we've toured a lot of different communities and this one just feels different and as soon as you walk in the door everybody's smiling everyone says Flo yeah I think it was mentioned the other day there they can walk around and be late because they stopped so many times to say hello to people I looked at 30 or 40 different places for physically visited them decided adela righto and the big factors were a small scale the financial situation and having the priest and the chapel on site was a major benefit to us my father had advanced Parkinson's disease my mom was trying to take care of him and it was not going well so my siblings and I began to look around at a community that would best fit their needs and not just physically and medically but also spiritually and emotionally and we found that a dollar at a villa was that fit it's like a second home I feel like when I'm going to work it's not work you know it's like a home for me too and my friends here they're the residence presents are my friends you can feel the joy there's a contentment here that we did not pick up on any of the other residences that we checked so you have music you have movies you have videos it does make a deep impression it did on me for me its life-giving working here because my work as an occupational therapist in the therapy department gives me joy and it's life-giving for me to see people not be able to do something when we start and be able to do it when they get finished with therapy and can go back to where whatever level they need it to be at you realize the responsibility when you walk down the hall and they talk to you they ask you a question or they call you and they ask you a question and if something is completely unrelated to your work or you go to their apartment to visit them at 3:00 in the afternoon and they offer you a glass of wine you know that you are not just an employee you're and in trusted friend and that's big responsibility and I think all of the employees here at a dollar understand that and take it very seriously I stress with everyone that that reports to me that we have to remember we're in the home of these residents what I'm proud is that everyone gets that they treat the residents with respect and dignity that I believe they so richly deserve and the joy is just learning the history and the stories of these residents they've all have such rich and full lives seeing the smiles on the residents faces when you stop and give your time to them that's the best gift we can give them is that our time their message their slogan is celebrate life and serve with joy and that's what they do here I always like to leave people smiling when I walk away from one minute so I do everything in my power to do that well when you come in and as things progress but our bed and a staff work with the families as well as the residents that to me is whole elsewhere after we came here we just looked at each other and said yeah this is it and we've never looked back it warms my heart to see the impact that we have on all of you as residents and family members but more importantly the impact that you have on us as associates we thank you for that I wish you many blessings and a wonderful celebration on the 75th anniversary of $1 Auto Villa have a wonderful evening [Music] you