The Ladies Home on 43 E. Utica St. in Oswego is closing its doors after a total of 146 years of service.
The residential care facility for senior citizen women dates back to 1872 when a group of 24 women joined to address concerns about the care for the less fortunate women who were in need in the community and had no support.
The home dates back to a time when there were nogovernment agencies in place yet to assist in elderly care. The Oswego Ladies Home was erected on Feb. 14, 1875, just three years after the original idea.
On Feb. 7, the board of directors for the Ladies Home of Oswego released a statement saying the home would close “by the end of the month or soon thereafter [and] that current residents can be relocated.”
The statement goes on to say that the decision was reached based on a number of economic factors such as ongoing financial difficulties due to increasing costs and the dwindling number of residents who are interested in living in the congregate housing.
Many Oswego students volunteered at the Ladies Home and were saddened to hear it would be closing. Oswego State senior Cliff-Simon Vital reminisced about past community service projects he had done for the Ladies Home with Alpha Phi Omega, a national community service fraternity on campus.
“It’s really sad to hear that a pillar of the Oswego community is closing,” Vital said. “Getting involved in Alpha Phi Omega … gave me the opportunity to write cards to the ladies. It is sad to think that I won’t have the opportunity to make their days anymore.”
Kristine Rich Ackerman is an Oswego alumna who volunteered at the Oswego Ladies Home back in 1999.
“I visited with a sweet woman named Arlene who loved orange marshmallow circus peanuts,” Ackerman said. “I would always bring her some, and she would stash them in her dresser.”
To many, the Ladies Home was more than just a place to volunteer occasionally. Ackerman spoke about how her relationship with Arlene grew to be much more than a nice old lady she visited, but that they bonded to create a lasting personal relationship.
“[Arlene] would call me and leave messages on my answering machine. ‘Kristine, Kristine, it is Arlene, emergency!’ Oh my gosh, I remember the first time that happened, my dorm neighbor told me Arlene called and had an emergency,” Ackerman said. “In a panic, I called her right back. Everything was fine and each message after that was always the same. A few years after I graduated, her sister called to tell me she passed away. We met at the Ritz Diner to share our memories and reminisce.”
The closing of this historic care building is impacting the lives of many, from the residents who lived there, the students and community members who volunteered there and others who were invested in their continued care and success.
Sara Sunday, the director of the Oswego County Office for the Aging, said in a statement that she was saddened by the news of the home’s impending closure. She said she did not know how many residents currently live at the Ladies’ Home or if there will be enough available housing in Oswego County for all the residents to relocate.
While the board of directors did not give an exact date as to when the Ladies Home would permanently close its doors for good, the website and information about the historic care center have been removed from the web.
Photo by Maria Pericozzi | The Oswegonian
