Welcoming Second Generations

Saint Therese has been serving individuals and their families for over 47 years. In those 47 years the organization has expanded from a single campus in New Hope to a multi-site organization serving individuals in their home or in one of three communities around the Twin Cities metro area.

Over those 47 years Saint Therese has seen many trends in health care come and go.

Recently, the New Hope campus has seen a new trend. Or rather they have begun to see a few familiar faces at the apartments; faces, which not long ago, were the adult children of parents who were tenants at the New Hope apartments.

New tenants like Charles “Chuck” and Roberta “Bobbie” Schumacher. Chuck and Bobbie were first introduced to Saint Therese back in the late 1990s. Chuck’s parents moved to the New Hope apartments and the care center following a change in their health.

“They liked that Saint Therese was a Catholic setting,” said Chuck. “They were active in their own parish and they had a lot of friends here at the time.” “They were so happy here,” Bobbie added. The couple was active at the New Hope campus participating in weekly events like cribbage, bingo and happy hour.

Chuck and Bobbie both laughed and smiled saying “they would tell the kids not to come during happy hour.”

The experience Chuck’s parents had at Saint Therese made a lasting impression on the couple. “We just always said that when the time came for us, we wanted to be here,” said Bobbie. “Saint Therese had everything we needed.”

Now, 14 years following Chuck’s parents, the couple is calling the New Hope campus home as well. Bobbie said that with the structure of their home and all the work that goes with it, “we couldn’t keep up.” “So, we called Pete,” Bobbie said with a smile. “It was just like calling family.”

Chuck and Bobbie moved to the New Hope apartments in August of 2014. With five children of their own, 11 grandchildren and three great grandchildren, the couple is kept busy with a variety of events and activities.

They spend most of their summers at “the lake” near Perham, MN enjoying time with family and friends. When they are home at the New Hope apartments, their busy lifestyle doesn’t change. The couple plays card games like 500 and helps out with bingo.

“It’s a friendly, Catholic community that I would recommend to anyone,” said Bobbie. “There is just so much to do we cannot take it all in.”