Year in Review: Letter from Executive Director Reflects on Many 2024 Accomplishments
Dear Board Members, Staff, Partners and Friends,
We are rushing through the year. Before we get too far, I want to take an opportunity to share reflections on the past year for Joseph & Mary’s Home.
We believe that the values of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine (CSAs) call for nothing less than excellence for those who need our care, and this necessitates examining the changing needs of those we serve, identifying gaps in care, and developing solutions to ensure our services result in strong outcomes and outsized impact. To this end, we focused our efforts in 2024 on modifying our facilities, evaluating our work, building capacity and planning for the future.
Serving an Aging Population
As the only medical respite provider in Northeast Ohio, we are sometimes “the canary in the coal mine,” in that we can see changes among the population of people we serve at an early stage. For the past several years—over my entire tenure—we have experienced a steady increase in the median age, physical disabilities and geriatric conditions of those we serve. It turns out that this is a trend happening across Cuyahoga County and the entire country, according to Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services data and a national study conducted by University of Pennsylvania researchers. This trend is projected to continue through 2030. To provide the best, most compassionate care to essentially older and sicker people, we decided to make some changes.
A New Home for Joseph’s Home
The biggest change is moving out of our existing Joseph’s Home building, where we have served medically fragile men experiencing homelessness for nearly 25 years, and renovating and relocating to a new space. It will offer 100% handicapped accessibility, trauma-informed design, and greater privacy and dignity for the men in our care. We kicked off the public phase of our capital campaign in June 2024, led by an amazing group of volunteers and chaired by Tom Tyrrell. Thanks to the generosity of many, we raised all of the funding needed for the project, as well as funds for operations and long-term financial health. Consequently, we started construction in November, on Veterans Day (a tribute to the many Veterans we have served over the years), and will be moving into our new home for healing this summer.
Adding Internal Capacity
Another change we made was to enhance our internal capacity by hiring additional clinicians in July, including a Registered Nurse and a Licensed Social Worker. As many of you know, we have always had nursing care as part of our program. However, for a number of years, this was through contracts with other agencies. We simply needed more. Having a full-time RN and LSW on staff brings greater knowledge and expertise to our care. In addition, we are on a learning journey to better understand how to best serve people who are experiencing geriatric conditions on top of physical illness and behavioral health issues. We are at the beginning, but it has been exciting to learn more and discover new partnerships.
To further enhance our quality, we have partnered with the Cleveland Clinic in a two-year pilot project and evaluation of Mary’s Home. Last year, I wrote about the incredible outcomes of Year 1. We wrapped up Year 2 of the pilot in 2024. While we have not completed the final report, I can offer a sneak peek at some of the results. Over the two years:
- 85% of residents exited to a safe, stable destination
- 70% of residents saw improvement in their primary physical diagnosis
- Over 75% of residents had improvement in their self-care skills
We will be publishing this report and sharing it broadly in 2025. Stay tuned!
Planning for the Future
In 2024, our board decided it was time to undertake a plan for the future. A lot has changed in the past few years. We expanded to serve women; we serve more people and have a bigger budget; we have different facilities; and, we have new staff. We are also part of the Sisters of Charity Health System, which is changing and evolving to meet new community needs. It was time to truly think about our strengths, challenges and possibilities. This work started in the fall, with the help of Rosa Consulting. It has been a lot of work!
I want to thank all of the board members, staff, former residents, current residents, partners, funders and other volunteers who kindly answered surveys, participated in interviews or joined focus groups. Our process will conclude at the end of March, and we will begin sharing our plan in the 2nd quarter. More importantly, we will begin to advance the strategies identified, including expanding through co-location, undertaking more pilot projects and research, deepening partnerships with senior service agencies, housing and homelessness agencies, hospitals and managed care organizations. We will also focus on recruitment, retention and appreciation of staff and volunteers, and find ways to use our voices to advance justice and compassion for those we serve.
In 2025, we will celebrate our 25th anniversary. The last 25 years are a testament to the love and determination of the CSAs to help some of the most vulnerable members of our community heal. It is also a testament to the incredible generosity and support you—our dear friends, partners, staff, volunteers and servant-leaders—have shown us. I am so grateful for what we accomplished together in 2024 and truly excited for all that we will do together in 2025.
Yours in mission,
Beth Graham
Executive Director