Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2—'The Georgia Bulletin, November 15,1973
Free Cancer Home
AN ATLANTA LANDMARK, Our
Lady of Perpetual Help Home on
Washington Street, a final home for
over 10,000 victims of cancer. The
home will soon be demolished and
sisters and patients moved into a brand
new facility.
SCENE IN A WARD at Our Lady of
Perpetual Help Free Cancer Home.
Sunshine, flowers, TV, books, laughter
and smiles are the order of the day.
100% Wool Jacket
Reg. Price $43.00
Our Price $ 28°°
100% Wool Slacks
Reg. Price $26°°
Our Price
$ 17°°
Special Purchase
Premiere Collection
from Famous Maker
of Sportswear
forJrs. 5 to 13
The Right Pants & Right skirt for the
Right jacket for the Right sweater
for the NEW TOTAL LOOK
and wear everywhere-anytime go
with EVERYTHING SHIRTS and
SWEATERS.
For those who want the best at Spe
cial Purchase Prices.
Tke, CfotkeaBirt, Ino.
"Come and Bring a Friend"
1950 Howell Mill Road, N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia
351-5064
(Continued from Front Page)
In 1927 the home was
phased out as a local
institution and was used for a
variety of social work
projects. During the
depression, it served as a
headquarters for many aid
programs. Then, for almost
10 years, it lay dormant.
At the invitation of the
late Archbishop Gerald
O’Hara, bishop of Georgia,
the sisters came to Atlanta.
The archbishop had found
the spacious property on
Washington Street, a stone’s
throw from the present
stadium and capitol building,
and five sisters arrived with
mops and pails, transforming
an abandoned building filled
with cobwebs and dust into a
home. In March 1939
dedication ceremonies were
held and the home officially
opened its doors.
One of the sisters recalled
that the trustees of the
Hebrew orphanage would not
let the empty building be sold
except for charitable
purposes, adding that one of
the trustees still sends regular
donations to the sisters. “The
Jewish community has been
very good to us,” she said.
The old building itself is
gigantic, spread over three
floors with numerous wings,
nooks and crannies,
street-width corridors,
vaulting ceilings and sunny
wards. Father Patrick
O’Connell, chaplain of the
home since 1961, smilingly
describes the building as
“modified Byzantine.” It is
perhaps one of the oldest
buildings in current use in the
city of Atlanta But it has
outlived itself, and because
renovation was impossible,
due to the age of the
structure, a new home was
planned and built.
Sister Eucharia, OP,
superior of thy home, said
the sisters were “thrilled”
with the new building, but
would undoubtedly feel great
pain when the old building
had to be demolished. She
explained that the old
building could not be
updated enough to serve the
needs of the patients and
sisters, adding that the new
structure would house 54
patients and provide a
convent for the sisters, a
luxury they have long done
without in the old structure.
There was no drive for
the new building, which is
built directly behind the
older one, just an
announcement that they
needed a new home.
Response came in from all
corners of Atlanta making
possible the dream of the
sisters. The community
quickly answered a need.
Sisters in the order are
pharmacists, dietitians,
registered nurses, practical
nurses, medical technologists,
etc. “We are all servants of
relief though,” Sister
Eucharia said; “we all pitch in
and do all the chores. No one
is singular in her specialty.”
The order of sisters was
founded in 1896 by Rose
Hawthorne Lathrop, daughter
of novelist Nathaniel
Hawthorne. With a strong
resolve to alleviate the
suffering of cancer patients,
especially the poor and
forgotten, Rose Hawthorne
began her service in New
York aiding the sick and the
dying. She was joined in her
endeavors by Anne Huber
who gave up her career in art
to help Rose Hawthorne in
her work.
The two then founded the
order of sisters who dedicate
their lives to caring for the
cancer-stricken poor. They
follow the rules of St.
Augustine and wear the
habits of the order of St.
Dominic. In 1920 Mother
Rose obtained a spacious
country site in Hawthorne,
N.Y., to this day the
motherhouse of the sisters.
There are seven homes
throughout the country now,
each of them ministering to
those suffering from cancer.
At the Atlanta home,
thousands of patients have
found a place of comfort and
solace in the work of the
sisters. Joining the sisters in
their merciful work are many
volunteers - a rotating team
of seven doctors, an
extremely active auxiliary,
people who come to iron
clothing for the patients,
others who come to visit and
bring a bit of cheerful
conversation. There are no
volunteers who actually do
the nursing however, a task
the sisters say belongs to
them and to them alone.
Their entire lives are totally
dedicated to alleviating the
suffering of their patients.
Father Connell, who
resides at the home with
Monsignor Edward Dodwell,
a former chaplain, said
patients soon pick up the
sense of family at the home.
“We share food, laundry,
everything,” he said. The
home is strictly non-sectarian,
drawing from all areas of the
southeast with perhaps two
out of 19 patients being
Catholic.
There is a feeling of
sunshine in every room and
ward at this amazing home.
Small TV sets for patients,
fresh flowers everywhere,
books, hobbies, toys for the
cheery children’s ward,
electric beds for patients’
comfort, snacks, a strikingly
simple and beautiful chapel.
Everywhere there are smiles,
not merely from the sisters
but from the patients.
Nobody cries the bitter tears
of sorrow at his fate, as one
might expect. It is the visitor
who cries.
Sister Eucharia said many
of the patients live with them
for years, “some for only a
day.” No one in need,
physcially or financially, is
ever turned away. There is no
consideration of race, color,
creed or age. Sister
commented that many of the
patients come from middle
class families, explaining that
the very rich are most able to
take care of their needs and
the very poor are helped by
the state. “It’s the middle
class that is the hardest hit,”
she said; “drug bills alone can
devastate a family.”
Sister said that by the time
a patient comes to the home,
the initial shock for them and
for their family has worn off.
“They are at the point where
they need help financially.”
She reflected quietly that it is
then that the sisters see the
family begin to relax, at long
last feel able to sleep at night,
knowing the patient is in
good hands.
“We never disucss why a
person is here,” she relates.
“We just want them to feel at
home with us.”
Holy Communion is
distributed daily in the wards
and a blessing for all is given.
There is no effort to
proselytize although Father
POPE PAUL
Connell notes the tremendous
number of converts to
Catholicism. “More than I’ve
ever seen in a parish,” he
adds.
Ministers of every
denomination visit the home
regularly. Archbishop
Donnellan is a frequent
visitor and spends many
hours chatting with patients,
carrying a little 5-year old
patient around with him.
Of the archbishop, Father
Connell says “He and
Archbishop Hallinan are of
the same cloth. Everybody
needs such as they. We don’t
deserve one such as him but
we’re mighty glad we’ve got
him. He’s benevolent and
kind.”
The home’s history in
Atlanta has been that of a
catalyst of charity. It has
drawn people of diverse faiths
and talents to aid its cause
and as it prepares to move
into a new modern building,
its needs continue to grow.
Volunteers have always come
forth when needed and their
need now is as great as it ever
was.
Sister Marie Cordis, OP,
administrator of the home,
has served the home for over
six years. Three of the other
sisters are presently studying
in Atlanta colleges, but hope
to continue their service at
the home. Sister Loretta, one
of the original five sisters
arriving in Atlanta, still
actively cares for patients at
the home.
The home has been blessed
through the years with
unexpected donations and
grants like that of a $10,000
windfall from the Ford
Foundation, and a $10,000
sum from the Gordon Street
Baptist Church. The Knights
of Columbus annually
sponsor a statewide drive for
the home which this year
brought the sisters $10,000.
Other donations come in
all sizes; the largest amount
ever receives was $600,000
from an unidentified
benefactor. The home’s
auxiliary hosts an annual
fashion show, their only fund
raiser.
No sum imaginable
however, could ever repay
this small band of sisters who
make the remaining days of
life happy and peaceful days
for countless patients. This
final home for so many
thousands is a rare place filled
with strength and love. As
one lady patient said in all
sincerity: “This place is a
joy!”
Military Service
Forms Character
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Military duty forms
character and matures young men, grounding them in
virtues that help them all their lives, Pope Paul IV told
2,600 Italian soldiers based in Rome who were lined
up before him in a Vatican courtyard.
Addressing the soliders, most of whom are serving
their compulsory military tour, the Pope said:
“This experience, so very
important for you because it
is a difficult and severe
apprenticeship, not only
trains you to fulfill seriously
your obligation to your
country but also helps you to
form in yourselves the
character of mature men.
“The sense of duty,
discipline, courage and the
spirit of sacrifice that are
interwoven into your lives
today are the virtues that
form the foundation of your
tomorrow.
“These very same virtues
“AFTERMATH
A paperback booklet
of 101 comic strips
which illustrate
"new math"
by Dave McGill,
Bulletin Cartoonist
Send $1.00, plus 25c for mailing & handling, to:
Dave McGill
2220 Marann Drive, N.E.
Atlanta, Ga. 30345
(PHOTOS by James W. Brown)
SISTER EUCHARIA (right) superior of the home,
pauses in the ward with Sister Walter who recently
joined the home’s staff from Philadelphia.
NEW YORK
Baptist Teenagers
Fighting Abortion
SOUTH GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (NC) - If they have
their way-and they think they will-two young Baptist
sisters from this small upstate New York town will be
the start of a pro-life youth movement that will sweep
the country.
will be asked of you when,
having taken off your
uniforms, you must assume
your responsibilities and
bring your very best to the
families you will find, to the
professions you will practice
and in the service to society
to which you will be called.”
The Pope told the soldiers
that he was close to them in
affection, understanding and
prayer during their tour of
duty and urged them to
remain close to their
Christian faith.
Liz and Erin Everts, along
with three friends, started
CRY-Concern for the
Rejected Young- in June.
Already they have recruited
50 members from their home
town. In addition, with the
aid of the Greater Glens Falls
Right to Life Committee, the
membership has spread into
neighboring communities.
Erin, a sophomore in high
school, explained that CRY
members travelled with the
right to life committee
whenever it made a
presentation on the reality of
abortion. Their goal was to
form off-shoots of CRY
wherever there were young
people interested. The result,
after just a few months of
effort, is chapters in five
other towns with membership
climbing into the hundreds.
“We plan to spread as a
sort of protest or
revolutionary kind of
movement,” Erin said. “We
have to get the youth
together. Only through them
will the law get changed. The
war on life didn’t end with
Vietnam.”
Christine Condon, the
chairman of the local Right
to Life Committee, has
nothing but praise for the
efforts of the young people.
“We are fully behind
them,” she said. “It is going
to be up to them whether a
constitutional amendment to
protect the unborn is passed.
They are doing a fantastic
job. They have never backed
out on us.”
The enthusiasm in CYR
comes from unexpected
sources. For example, Liz
Everts, a senior in high school
admits that she “knew
nothing about abortion”
before a trip to Canada in
1972.
At that time, she and her
sister picked up some pro-life
literature at a booth at the
Canadian National
Exposition. When they
returned home, they were
convinced that something had
to be done, but it took them
a year to link up with the
Right to Life Committee.
Another member of CRY,
Katie Corcoran, also a senior,
is a convert to the movement.
“I used to be pro-abortion,”
she admits. “Then Liz, who
was in history class with me,
talked to me about it. I
listened to both sides and
realized I was wrong. Many
youth seemed to be filled
with pro-abortionpropaganda.
I joined CRY to try to change
that.”
Liz and Erin both agree
that getting the facts is
essential. “When we show our
friends the pictures and give
them information, they are
astonished,” Liz revealed.
F.R. Reid
Mooney's Opticians
475 Peachtree, N.E.
Phone: 876-3053
FARM WORKER CALENDAR. Contains dramatic
pictures that will not be ignored. They portray the
long steep road which leads from oppression to
dignity. An appointment type calendar. It will
help keep your year in oorder. $2.00
CHRISTMAS CARDS. By union artist Susan Pearcy contain
bold art vividly printed on bright paper. They present themes
of non-violence, justice and peace for all. Twelve dramatic
Farm Worker stamps are included. One dozen assorted cards
with envelopes. $2.00
Cards and calendars available from:
United Farm Workers, Atlanta
325 Second Ave. SE
Atlanta, Ga. 30317 phone:373-0201