Catherine’s Cottage was established in 2006 to create community for Sisters in the beginning stages of memory loss and Sisters who desired to form a loving, supportive community with them. Over the years, it’s become a living, loving reality.
Two current residents, Sisters Jolise May and Joan Fisher, are also original residents.
Planning for Catherine’s Cottage began in 2004 with discussions and formation of a committee to carry out the process, ensuring care for Sisters with mild memory loss. The goal of the Cottage, which features a solarium and bird watching area, pictured above, was to establish a small, home like setting for those challenged by memory loss. Studies show patients dealing with memory issues do better in smaller settings with consistency. The 8,000 square-foot, 13-bedroom home was dedicated in September 2006.
Sister Joan the long-time chronicler of Catherine’s Cottage, began as a Sister helping others cope with memory loss, and now accepts help herself as she deals with memory loss. “I wouldn’t want to live any place else,” she said. “I love all the windows that look out into nature.”
MoonTree Studio broke ground for their new, LEED® Certified facility on June 7, 2010, and opened to The Center at Donaldson community and to the public in 2011. LEED® certification involves meeting certain prerequisites in five areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. Living into the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ’s values and Integral Ecology, MoonTree offers opportunities for Fearlessly Creating through the interconnectedness of Art, Earth, and Spirit. The value of experience over rigid instruction is encouraged in a stunningly beautiful natural environment featuring a native prairie and six wind sculptures by artist Lyman Whitaker.
Currently, experiences offered at MoonTree include Lampwork Glass bead making with world-renowned artist Kari Chrittenden, Glass Mosaics, Mindful Movement Yoga, Tai Chi, Contemplative Prayer, and Creativity with Clay, facilitated by Rachel Hansen. Rachel’s been working with clay since she started at MoonTree eight years ago and has moved up to teaching the class, which includes students from senior citizens to Marian University Ancilla College students. “I knew nothing about clay before I came to MoonTree. I have been curious about the process. (It’s) like a journey with each piece you create. It takes time to go through each stage of creating with it. Patience is key, it’s a process that can’t really be rushed,” she noted. MoonTree partners with the PHJC Associates to host the annual Empty Bowls Soup Supper, a fundraiser for the Food Bank of Northern Indiana. Additionally, Director Matthew Celmer and Program Coordinator Liz Symon both teach at Marian University Ancilla College. Liz, along with MoonTree interns and volunteers, conduct water-quality testing which she’ll soon be able to do in MoonTree’s on-site lab.
In 2015, Sisters Connie Bach and Marybeth Martin, PHJC, shepherded the PHJC Volunteer Program into a model of service guided by the Spirit. That year, Associate Director Libby Riggs joined the Poor Handmaid community as its first full-time resident volunteer. She began in service to the Sisters residing at Catherine Kasper Home and later served with other congregations in Holly Springs, Mississippi through the Catholic Volunteer Network. In Mississippi, she served on a construction crew to clear out an old volunteer house, remodel an old beauty shop, tutored at Holy Family School, and served in a soup kitchen.
Of the experience, she told Word Gathering in 2016, “There’s no real need to leave the country when our own brothers and sisters are living in poverty and oppression. I am but a drop in the bucket!”
Sister Connie later organized groups of volunteers, who could access a week of the Poor Handmaids’ generous Volunteer Time Off program, to serve in migrant camps in Matamoros, Mexico and at the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas. Volunteers on the trip in December 2019 witnessed a mother from Honduras reunited after five months of cruel separation, just in time for Christmas. It was truly a Christmas miracle. Volunteers served meals to migrants at the Respite Center and transported them to area bus stations and airports to be reunited with family members already living in the U.S. Groups of coworkers, Associates, and friends of the PHJCs made five of these trips to the U.S.- Mexico border, so far.
After returning from one of the trips, the PHJC Volunteer Food Program began delivering food and other necessities, including hope, to residents at two motels in Plymouth. Twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Sisters, Associates, and Maria Center residents make lunches and pack grocery and hygiene bags, which are then loaded into a van for delivery. Another group of volunteers meets the van at the motels to do the delivering, which commences with a knock on the residents’ doors along with a hearty “Happy Thursday! Sister Connie’s Groceries!”
Red Rock Inn resident Marie’s eyes light up not from donations but from an enveloping hug from Sister Connie. It’s kindness, distilled into its most human form. The pair chat about how Marie’s been doing as she reflects, “I so appreciate what you do by giving us food, body lotion, and towels and the people around me appreciate it, too. I can’t think of a better way to give than just to let people know you care about them and that they’re not forgotten.”
In 2020, Illuminata House of Prayer began as a sacred space for those who seek silence and solitude to further explore and deepen the interconnection of art, nature, and creativity within. Led by Sister Nancy Raboin, PHJC, Illuminata House is wheelchair accessible and is located in the former Visitation House surrounded by forest, prairie, and walking paths along Lake Galbraith.
Illuminata also serves as a gathering space for volunteers and as a collaborative space for guests of MoonTree and Lindenwood.
Timeline
Catherine’s Cottage
July 1, 2006
Donaldson, Indiana
Catherine’s Cottage opened as a community of Poor Handmaid of Jesus Christ Sisters, some who are experiencing the early stages of memory loss and others who will offer them a loving and supportive community.
MoonTree
June 7, 2010
Donaldson, Indiana
MoonTree Studio challenges people to experience mindfulness as they explore the interconnectedness of art, nature, and the Spirit within them.
PHJC Volunteer Program
2015
PHJC Volunteers serve with Hearts and Hands.
Illuminata House of Prayer
2020
Donaldson, Indiana
Illuminata House of Prayer is a sacred, accessible space for women and men of all abilities who seek silence and solitude to further explore and deepen the interconnection of art, nature, and creativity within.