Retirement home is answer to prayers

Enlarge Image

Sister Cecile Fortier says the retirement home was the logical next step for the order. (MIKE.DEAL@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

Enlarge Image

The retirement home.

They dedicated their lives to serving God and helping their communities.

But as the nuns from two local Orders of Sisters aged -- and their numbers dwindled -- they began wondering who would help them as they entered their twilight years.

And the Oblate Sister and the Sisters of the Cross prayed for how they could continue to help the community now and after they are gone.

The answer to their prayers was unveiled on Wednesday less than a month before the new Villa Aulneau -- a new 157-unit retirement residence for the sisters in the two orders as well as ordinary senior citizens built in the Oblates' former Mother House -- officially opens its doors.

The $30-million, two-year project has seen the building totally gutted and renovated to include the construction of a full-service cafeteria, laundry services and meeting areas. And while there is still work to be done -- the front doors are made of plywood -- it's on schedule to open April 1.

Wearing a hard hat in what was once the chapel where the sisters prayed, Sister Cecile Fortier, the Oblate Sisters' general superior, said it was a logical next step for the 107-year-old order.

"At one time there were at least 100 sisters living here plus another 100 living in parishes and schools and overseas," Fortier said.

"Today we are only 79. But while the Oblate sisters are aging, they're still very active and volunteer to help."

Fortier said with their order aged from those in their 50s to 100, they could see the day was coming when they would need help to care for themselves. They also knew there was a need for seniors' housing in the area and they had a large building too costly to keep up.

"We realized this place should be shared with the people who need care," she said.

"This is the beginning of a new journey for us."

But it's not a journey that is unique.

The Grey Nuns, who during their history have been responsible for St. Boniface General Hospital, St. Amant Centre, St. Mary's Academy and Sara Riel among others, showed the way in 2005 when they converted their nearby Provincial House into independent and supportive living and housing units as they watched their numbers dwindle. The first residents of Residence Despins were the members of several female religious congregations including the Grey Nuns themselves.

Aurele Foidart, executive director of Despins Charities, an arm of the Catholic Health Corporation of Manitoba, said the conversion of the Oblates' Mother House addresses the "need in our community for more services for seniors and they found a solution in keeping with their own values."

Sister Evelyn Pierret, provincial superior of Les Filles de la Croix, or Sisters of the Cross, said her order was in the same situation as the Oblates so she is pleased 17 of her Sisters will join 57 Oblates in the facility. The remaining suites are available for rent by the general public.

"It will be a big change for all of us because we live on our own site with our own facilities," Pierret said.

"We will need to make a special effort to reach out to all of us to continue to live a communal life. But we are looking forward to living with our new neighbours here.

"And we do have something in common with (the Oblates)... the Bishop (Louis-Philippe Adelard Langevin) asked one of our Sisters to help set (the Oblates) up.

"We've always chuckled we are cousins."

Pierret said they are still looking at options for what will become of their own Provincial House at 66 Moore Ave.

Philippe Mailhot, director of the St. Boniface Museum, said all of the various orders of nuns have left their mark on the history and development of Winnipeg and Manitoba.

"Once upon a time, if a woman wanted to do interesting things like educate, be a nurse, or run an institution, almost the only way to go was to join a religious order," Mailhot said.

"Where else in the 1920s would you see a woman run a hospital?"

But Mailhot said one of their ongoing legacies will also be the bricks and mortar they leave behind.

"They have a legacy of education, a legacy of putting their own needs aside to help others and their legacy will continue because even when the nuns are gone, the buildings they build will continue to serve."

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 3, 2011 B1