Looking Back on National Backwards Day
Looking Back on National Backwards Day
When you’re celebrating 40 years of service within a community, it’s natural to look in the rear-view mirror occasionally to see where you came from, and how you arrived at where you are. National Backwards Day seems like the perfect day to do that!
Walking backwards to 1972, we see Minneapolis mayor elect, Al Hofestede on a ski lift in Vail, Colorado with his Northeast buddy Tom Glodek, who turned to Al and said, “Albert, we need to build a nursing home.” Al replied, “Okay,” and upon return from their ski vacation, the two boys from Northeast got to work on making it happen.
The need to care for beloved parents and grandparents brought the people of Northeast Minneapolis together to form a bond that spread across the Twin Cities. The passion for building Catholic Eldercare traveled from Minneapolis to St. Paul, from colleague to colleague, friend to friend, parish to parish, and priest to priest, eventually landing at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Archbishop Roach.
A politician, a funeral director, a financier, and a nun came together to make the history we are celebrating this year. They raised $250,000 from pull tabs from Elsie’s, borrowed money from Rose Totino, got an architect to donate his time, secured a location, built Catholic Eldercare, and incorporated the HUD program, to make it affordable.
The Anniversary issue of Connections Magazine is slated to reach mailboxes the first week of March. It will feature the full story of the founding of Catholic Eldercare, and how we’ve grown to include independent living, assisted living, memory care, transitional care, and an adult day program. And it will show you how we’ve remained faithful to our mission, and the Catholic principles that continue to guide us.
We celebrate our founders, Al Hofstede, Tom Glodek, Bob Hannah, and Sister Ruth Roland, who set the course for Catholic Eldercare. We will forever look backwards with deep respect and gratitude for their dedication, passion, and perseverance that made Catholic Eldercare a reality.