Today was a very special day at the Sacred Heart Home as the Mayor of Toledo, Michael Bell, came for a visit!
Mayor Bell commented on entering the Home that he had long passed by the building, but had never been inside to see what we were all about. He knew many loyal supporters here in Toledo had given generously to help us build our Home a few years ago, but he had never had the pleasure of meeting a Little Sister, nor seeing inside our Home. We introduced ourselves to Mayor Bell and his assistant, Mr. Bill Stewart, and were so pleased that Mr. Bill Mueller, one of our Advisory Board members, was able to join us for a tour of the Home.
We gave Mayor Bell a quick tour of our Home, including a visit to our nursing care wing, where we joined some of our Residents who were involved in an activity baking pumpkin muffins. Mayor Bell had the rare opportunity to meet one of our Residents, Mary Zigray, who is 102. He exclaimed “102 years old, wow that is something!” We also showed Mayor Bell our physical therapy room, craft center, library, gift shop and our chapel. He was most impressed with our chapel and commented on the beautiful stained glass windows and statues.
As Mayor Bell did not know a lot about the Little Sisters, he was greatly impressed when Mother Cecilia shared with him the story of how St. Jeanne Jugan founded the congregation by taking in an elderly blind woman into her home. He was equally amazed by how the Little Sisters were so involved in the community and how local people truly love us and support the work that we do.
We ended our tour by telling him we would pray for him, and he said he appreciated that, sharing that he had a very unique job and could use our support. We thank Mayor Michael Bell for taking time out of his busy schedule to visit our Home and learn more about the mission of the Little Sisters.
