The Adorers of the Blood of Christ, U.S. Region, has made the difficult decision to cede its sponsorship of St. Joseph’s Villa and Court to the Villa’s board of directors effective March 1, 2021.
The congregation has reached a point that it can no longer exercise sponsorship of St. Joseph’s Villa through management, oversight and board membership, said Sister Fran Schumer, executive director of ASC Health, the Adorers U.S. Region’s health division. No Adorer has worked at St. Joseph’s since the early 1990s although the congregation’s Sister Frances Pytlik is a board member and volunteer.
The board has worked with the Diocese of Lincoln to ensure that St. Joseph’s Villa and Court will continue as a Catholic institution and will follow the ethical and religious directives of the Catholic Church, Sister Schumer said. The board is committed to continuing the Adorers’ mission and values that have guided the Villa throughout its history.
The move will not affect the Villa and Court’s valued residents, families or employees. The institution will continue to operate as usual. Its board, administrator and management company will remain the same.
The only change in the Adorers’ ceding of sponsorship is that St. Joseph’s Villa and Court’s board of directors will now have the final say on all matters related to the institution.
The Adorers have played a major role in St. Joseph’s Villa and Court since the congregation purchased and renovated a home as a residence for senior citizens in 1939.
In the 1960s, David City, Nebraska, residents raised funds to build a new replacement home and the sisters agreed to continue to staff it. For more than 80 years, the Adorers have sponsored St. Joseph’s Villa and Court.
The Adorers of the Blood of Christ, U.S. Region is part of an international congregation of religious women founded in 1834 by St. Maria de Mattias. The Adorers came to America 150 years ago and founded and/or staffed schools, hospitals, homes for the aged, orphanages and other institutions that care for others.