Amid pandemic challenges, the elderly inspire the Little Sisters of the Poor

As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year, the Little Sisters of the Poor continue their vigilance in taking care of the elderly poor who live in their Holy Family Residence in St. Paul.

“Despite the restrictions and extra precautions, we realize, with God’s grace, that this is just a period in our lives, even though it’s lasting longer than we’d like,” said Mother Theresa Robertson, the mother superior who oversees the residence.

“What gives me hope as well is our residents. There’s a great resiliency with the elderly,” she said. “They, and our staff, understand that we’re doing what we have to do to help everyone stay healthy.”

Served by a staff of 104, including eight Little Sisters of the Poor, the Holy Family Residence offers board and care (assisted living) and skilled nursing care to as many as 73 people. Independent living for 32 residents is also offered on the same grounds, at Jeanne Jugan Apartments.

Because of lower admissions due to the pandemic, the nursing facility currently houses 55 residents, ages 68 to 103. The apartments now house 20 people, with some vacancies as an ongoing renovation is completed.

“The average age of our nursing home residents is in the 90s; most are in financial need and are Medicaid eligible,” Mother Theresa said. “Our independent residents are mostly in their late 70s and have low income/low assets; we take care of the elderly in need.”

“Our mission is to make the elderly happy, offering high competence professional care, activities to make the residence feel as homey as possible, and a wide variety of services to take care of our residents’ spiritual lives, preparing them to go home to God, their maker,” she said.

The sisters come together each day for morning prayer, moments of meditation, Mass, evening and night prayer. They plan to commemorate the upcoming World Day for Consecrated Life on Feb. 2 with Mass and possibly a special rosary and adoration.

Sister Cecilia Wong is a registered nurse who heads a skilled nursing unit at Holy Family Residence. She has another important role: managing the complex COVID-19 infection control procedures at the facility.

“In the beginning, the fear was there with isolating residents, no group activities and no visitors,” Sister Cecilia said. “It was very overwhelming to do all that we had to do to keep everyone safe.”

“Now we know what COVID is; we still have to be vigilant, but the fear is less,” she said. “For example, with the current omicron variant, each staff member comes into the building with a new, clean mask, and family and other visitors take an antigen test before coming in.”

The Holy Family Residence has also worked to safely bring back activities for its residents, unit by unit. “And our residents can now practice their faith as part of their daily life if they choose to; that wasn’t possible during lockdowns,” said Mother Theresa.

“That’s really important, as many times we’ve had folks come back to the Church after years of being away due to a variety of circumstances,” she said. “Now they’re able to return to their faith or more actively practice their faith.”

The Little Sisters of the Poor, an international congregation of Catholic religious women founded in 1839 by St. Jeanne Jugan, serves the elderly poor in more than 30 nations worldwide.

In the Twin Cities, their history dates back to 1883, when six sisters of the congregation came to St. Paul to care for 20 elderly residents. The current Holy Family facility, at 330 Exchange St. S., was built in 1977.

All eight Little Sisters of the Poor at the Holy Family Residence serve its residents, Mother Theresa said.

“Especially during this time of tremendous shortage of nursing personnel, we do as needed,” she said. “Some have less active roles because of their age and health condition, but all are involved in some way, including visiting the residents, serving meals and fulfilling pastoral needs.”

During the pandemic, only one Holy Family resident has passed away from COVID-19. But, others have died in the past two years from other causes.

For Mother Theresa, one of the biggest impacts during the pandemic has been no final goodbye for residents who have died.

“It’s hard for us to lose a resident; we know them so well,” she said. “Our mission is to accompany them until they pass away, but during the pandemic, when they have to leave to go into the hospital, we can’t be there with them.”

“In each of our Little Sisters of the Poor facilities, we typically hold visitations and funeral Masses, which are wonderful opportunities for fellow residents and staff to say their goodbyes,” she continued. “Now with COVID, there’s none of that, and that’s been very hard.”

And, Mother Theresa noted, while she’s been through many flu epidemics in the past, COVID-19 is different.

“Like flu, we use the same technique of isolation to control spread, wear masks and wash hands, but COVID is that invisible enemy that’s lurking and not ending like the flu, as it mutates and changes to a different form,” she said.

“And with no end in sight — it’s a marathon, not a sprint — it has been so politicized with masks and mandates,” Mother Theresa said. “It makes you weary at times.”

Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, the Little Sisters of the Poor continue to focus on the value of each resident, and celebrate the wisdom of age.

“Some people think that older people are of no use, and that taking care of them is a waste of time,” Sister Cecilia said. A native of Hong Kong, she experienced the family-like atmosphere of a Little Sisters home while visiting her grandfather there; that inspired her to choose the sisterhood for her own vocation.

“Every day for me is showing appreciation to our residents and thanking them for what they’ve done in their young days for society,” she said.

“As time passes with COVID, the Holy Spirit inspires all of us to do the best we can for our elderly residents,” she said. “When I feel overwhelmed, I remember that God is the master. He’s the one who will protect us.”

“But what always gives me hope is our staff, our residents and their families,” she added. “We’re all on one team to keep our residents’ health the priority, and God gives us great hope in the goodness of humanity.”

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WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE

The Little Sisters of the Poor are among more than 40 men and women’s religious communities that serve the Church and community in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. On Feb. 2, the Church celebrates the 26th annual World Day for Consecrated Life, which recognizes the special gift of consecrated men and women, such as religious brothers and sisters, members of secular institutes and consecrated virgins. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis invites them to participate in an online Archdiocesan Celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life 6:30 p.m. Feb. 2. For more information, visit archspm.org/events.