“God asks me to care for his children,” Sr. Vacha Kludziak, SSMI, said. But the children she is speaking about may be 70, 80 or even 90 years old.
Sr. Vacha is the administrator of Sacred Heart Home in Hyattsville, Md. On Oct. 15, after many years of construction, she and Sr. Donna Zielinska, SSMI, provincial superior, cut a ribbon for the nursing home’s new building during a dedication that included a blessing by Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy Campbell. State Delegate Anne Healey, who represents the Prince George’s County region where Sacred Heart is located, attended.
The new, light-filled residence is organized into four communities, each with private rooms and a common area that opens onto a large courtyard garden. There also is a chapel for daily Mass and prayer, rooms for therapy and other amenities. The one-level, state-of-the-art building is replacing a multi-story, century-old brick structure. The convent is connected to the nursing home by a breezeway.
Sacred Heart welcomes individuals from different incomes and faith backgrounds. Many residents depend on Medicaid funding.
Sr. Vacha and the other sisters, natives of Poland, see their role as much more than meeting the physical needs of the residents in their care.
“God has asked me to take care of his children and to show the merciful love of God. Taking care of seniors is my calling within a calling,” Sr. Vacha said while giving a tour of the original building, adding, “The residents are the body of Christ. It gives me energy to go on.”
“Having someone who cares and loves them is all that matters.”
She sees this care as encompassing not only the individuals’ physical well-being, which the sisters, medical staff and aides prioritize, but treating each person with dignity, asking how people are doing, and providing the opportunity for residents to find meaning at this time in their lives, to work through emotional change and to reconcile with loved ones.
Sacred Heart Home has been under the care of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate since 1998; Sr. Vacha began ministry there in 1999. The sisters also operate St. Joseph’s Nursing Home in Catonsville, Md.
Catholic Charities of Baltimore, Victory Housing of the Archdiocese of Washington, and additional religious orders also provide senior housing – from independent to long-term care, often for those with income limits – across Maryland.