About 140 local city leaders, residents and staff celebrated the ground breaking for the Hull Family Fellowship Center at Farmington Presbyterian Manor Thursday.
In 2017, an anonymous donor bequeathed $1 million to the senior living facility. The planned Fellowship Center will need an additional $250,000, of which $134,000 has already been raised.
The employees of Presbyterian Manor pledged $25,000 and were matched by the trustees. The 3,500-square-foot center will host various activities and have a covered patio with landscaping where residents can enjoy the outdoors.
Nancy Sullivan is co-chair of the steering committee for the “Give. Gather. Grow.” and Hull Family Fellowship Center Campaign.
“It’s really an exciting time for the manor,” she said. “It gives us expansion to have parties, Art is Ageless, and all the activities that we’ve had to do in our dining rooms. The fact that we have a million-dollar gift has put us beyond.”
Farmington Presbyterian Manor Executive Director Jane Hull was ecstatic about the new addition and its future potential.
“We are really excited about the outdoor space,” she said. “As you can see now, we don’t have any kind of a patio. This will be a covered patio with outdoor furniture. Residents will be able to enjoy their morning cup of coffee out here if they want to, or picnic with family and friends.
“It’s going to be such a wonderful opportunity for us. We’ve had the lack of space, the possibilities are going to be endless for us now. We just don’t even know what programming we can add now, having this additional space. [We would do] Art is Ageless, family birthday parties, staff training. We do have a lot of families come in, they might come in for a family reunion and they have to work around the dining room schedule now. We can have more families in at Christmas time.”
Dr. Jon Cozean gave a discourse at the ceremony on the history of the Presbyterian Church in Farmington and the founding of the home.
“The Presbyterian Church moved on to what is perhaps its most important role, in that it established this nursing home and embellished it with a Christian tradition that has remained strong to this day. Because of this important and abiding Christian role in working with elderly people, The Presbyterian Manor has, and will continue to attract people of all faiths to this nursing home,” he said.
Because the donor wanted to remain anonymous, the new center is named after Hull in honor of her 40 years of service to Farmington Presbyterian Manor.
Construction is planned to start soon with a projected completion in early 2020.
Farmington Presbyterian Manor has served St. Francois County since 1962 with independent and assisted living, Alzheimer’s care, long-term care and short-term rehabilitation. Learn more at FarmingtonPresbyterianManor.org. Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization with 17 locations and two hospices in Kansas and Missouri.
