From the beginning there was a clear mission: St. Coletta`s of Illinois would give people with developmental disabilities the strength to stand on their own as best they could.
And that mission has never changed since the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi founded the home in the late 1940s and political patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy invigorated it as chief contributor in the early 1950s. It is a cause that the Kennedys have never forgotten, and it is an outreach that is showing new energy.
When many of its buildings burned over the summer as part of planned demolition, the spreading smoke didn`t signify a dissipation but a spreading of the seed as St. Coletta`s established group homes throughout the southwest suburbs, sending its residents out into life rather than concentrating them in one large institution.
”Individuals who are disabled shouldn`t be relegated to a location where they can`t participate like everybody else does,” said Wayne Kottmeyer, executive director of St. Coletta`s. ”We needed to give them the opportunity to live like all of us do. We needed to give more viable living conditions to our clients.”
To some, St. Coletta`s is considered the Misericordia of the south suburbs. Although the organization lacks name recognition, staff and board members have been working diligently to further the goals of the institution, which has existed on 56 acres in the middle of Palos Park since 1949.
The devoted staff could not, however, keep up with the structural demands of the enormous complex. When Kottmeyer arrived in 1989, he was immediately faced with some incredible obstacles, including an asbestos problem that would cost millions to eradicate. Even if the asbestos was abated, the school and residential cottages had roofs that needed to be repaired and brick walls that required tuckpointing. To Kottmeyer, the list seemed endless.
The costly renovations, combined with Kottmeyer`s ethical desire to provide a more suitable environment for the clients at St. Coletta`s, served as an impetus that drove the executive director forward. He decided the right thing to do would be to deinstitutionalize the 105 children and adults who were living at the campus, destroy the outdated buildings and begin anew with clear land and fresh ideas.
He found support for his plan from St. Coletta`s of Illinois Foundation board of directors, which helps to raise funds for the organization, and St. Coletta`s of Illinois board of directors, which assists in running the school and training program. According to Kottmeyer, he was able to fulfill his goals only because his staff and boards of directors joined forces with him.
”I have an exceptional staff and a board of directors that`s second to none. Number one, they`re not afraid. They`re a very risk-taking bunch of people,” Kottmeyer said. ”And for an organization in this field to remain viable in this economy you have to be willing to take risks.”
Backed by his staff and boards, Kottmeyer rallied support from other sources. ”When Wayne came to us the question was would the department be willing to financially support deinstitutionalization. Everyone knew it was the right thing to do, but could we afford it?” said William Murphy, formerly the associate director for developmental disabilities with the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities. ”We agreed because it was the right thing to do.
”I can`t underscore the undertaking. They did almost the impossible, and they didn`t stub their toe once.”
The next obstacle the organization encountered was zoning commissions and community residents, who were convinced that group homes for developmentally disabled individuals in their neighborhoods would cause problems and devalue their property. ”In no case did a community open their arms and say `Please come to us,` ” said Bridget Davis, director of residential services for St. Coletta`s. ”We had to work with local governments, attend meetings. It was an uphill battle.”
Although two years after the program began that battle is less intense, Davis said ignorance continues to exist. She recounted an encounter she had with a Lockport resident just this summer while she stood on a street corner requesting donations for Tootsie Pop Day, one of the organization`s many fundraising events.
”A man came up to give me money and he said, `My wife tells me you`re out in Palos and that`s great. You`re keeping all those kids out there.` I said, `No, not really. Right up the street we have a group home. And there`s another over here in this subdivision,` ” Davis explained. ”Then the man said, `What do you mean? We`re contaminated?` I said, `No. Obviously, it`s working well. We`ve been here almost two years, and you didn`t even know we were here. So I call that a success.` ”
According to Davis, the man`s comments were mild compared with what others have said. But she added that St. Coletta`s has a higher level of acceptance now than it had two years ago in every community where a group home or apartment exists. There are currently 11 six-person homes and six four-person apartments in Orland Park, Palos Heights, New Lenox, Tinley Park, Lockport, Oak Forest, Justice, Hickory Hills, Alsip. And last year an intermediate care facility for 16 disabled adults with more severe medical and physical needs was built in Country Club Hills. Trained house managers and and full-time shift staff provide 24-hour care, supervision, skills training, personal assistance and transportation at each of the residences.
Davis said not all the community residents are reluctant to accept their new neighbors. There is, for example, Drina Madden of Palos Park, who serves on the community liaison committee, which is composed of residents from the community and representatives from St. Coletta`s.
Last year Madden and her family brought Thanksgiving dinner to a group of boys at an Orland Park home. Madden said these boys had no family to share the holiday with, and they had never seen a whole turkey with wings and legs. Before that day, they had only eaten slices of turkey served on cafeteria trays.
Drina, husband James, who is chairman of the foundation board, and their 14- and 17-year-old daughters have also acted as a sort of foster family for 15-year-old Mary, who lives in Palos Heights and has no family. At least once a month, the Maddens do something with Mary (whose last name cannot be used for this story because she is a minor). Visits have included a trip to the Shedd Aquarium and shopping for ribbons for the girl`s hair.
”It`s been a wonderful experience for our entire family. We`re doing something to help someone, but we`re getting so much back,” Drina Madden said. ”I think the best part is watching her learn to trust us.
”During Mary`s life, a lot of people have left her. Staff members come and go. She has no family. We told her, `We`re not going to leave you,` and we`re not. Maybe in a small way we`re helping her learn to be more trusting.” Madden said that although she does not condone the negative behavior of many community residents toward the developmentally disabled, she understands it.
”Instead of calling them `them` or `those people` we need to put names on those faces and get to know them as individuals,” Madden said. ”Our society used to put these people away, but that`s not right. I know it`s going to take some time, but there`s really nothing to be afraid of.”
The new neighbors from St. Coletta`s experience fear as well. As one of the first of four girls to leave the campus and begin living in an apartment in Tinley Park, 21-year-old Kathy Stefanski said she was frightened at first. But two years later she is blossoming in her new environment.
Stefanski is learning to ride the bus on her own. She bags groceries and collects carts at Dominick`s Finer Foods in Orland Park three or four days a week. And she volunteers at St. Coletta`s two days a week.
”I feed the babies and play with them,” Stefanski said. ”Sometimes I rock them to sleep.”
The babies Stefanski is referring to are the newest addition to St. Coletta`s. When the deinstitutionalization was complete, 25 abused and neglected children from the Department of Children and Family Services found a home in the St. Coletta`s administration building. Kottmeyer had read an article about overcrowded DCFS shelters and felt his facility would be a perfect home for these needy children.
Forty volunteers currently aid the staff in caring for the children who range in age from newborn to 6.
The addition of the children from DCFS to St. Coletta`s is simply another page in a history that began in 1949 when Cardinal Samuel Stritch, archbishop of chicago, invited several of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi to move their school for exceptional children from Longmont, Colo., to Palos Park. The new school, named St. Coletta`s, was created on a farm site donated by the Archdiocese of Chicago.
As enrollment grew from 29 boys to 120 (girls were not admitted until 1984), additional cottages and a food service building were needed. Those structures were made possible through a $1.25 million gift from Joseph P. Kennedy and the Kennedy Foundation.
Kennedy`s connection stemmed from the Franciscan Sisters` care of his developmentally disabled daughter, Rosemary, at an affiliated home in Jefferson, Wis., where she still lives. In recognition of the donation, the school in Palos Park was renamed Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. School for Exceptional Children, in honor of Joseph Sr.`s son, who was killed in World War II. In 1989, the school was relocated to its present site in Palos Hills as the first step in St. Coletta`s long-range plan to integrate its clients into the community.
Today at the school students learn reading, writing and functional skills such as shopping, banking and using public transportation. The school serves residents of St. Coletta`s group homes and apartments as well as day students who live at home with their families. Students are grouped by age and functional ability into five levels including elementary, junior high and high school I, II and III.
In 1963, the Kennedy Job Training Center was established to teach clients how to work in the community. Packaging, labeling and two- and three-step assembly work is available on the premises to those who are unable to obtain jobs outside of the organization. The relocation of the training center to Bedford Park was the final step in the deinstitutionalization process.
During the past 43 years, thousands of children and adults have received schooling and training from St. Coletta`s. Jimmy Pasquinelli attended St. Coletta`s from the time he was 6 until he reached 21, seven years ago. According to his mother, Barbara, the education her son received was exceptional.
”It felt like such a warm and nurturing environment, and my son loved it,” said Pasquinelli of Oak Lawn. ”The educational program was excellent.” Pasquinelli is also a member of the Caritas Society, the women`s auxiliary of St. Coletta`s. Each year the society conducts a fundra953, the society has raised more than $2 million for St. Coletta`s. For many years the annual balls were held at hotels, but last year Pasquinelli chaired the event and opted to add some variety to the celebration. She held the fundraiser at the Shedd Aquarium, where 660 people attended and a $100,000 profit was collected.
”I wanted to shake things up a little bit,” Pasquinelli said.
A little shaking up is exactly what the entire organization needed, according to Bill Michalak, chairman of the board of St. Coletta`s of Illinois. Michalak said when he became a member of the board in 1986, St. Coletta`s had a case of the doldrums. But the arrival of Kottmeyer in 1989 ignited the organization with a spark of energy.
”I think so much of what has happened to St. Coletta`s is guided by the vision of Wayne Kottmeyer. He is willing to go into areas where a need exists but where no programs exist and make things happen,” Michalak said. ”He knows programatically and economically what he`s doing, and so far because of him we haven`t stepped on any boobytraps.”
But Kottmeyer resists the temptation to accept the accolades, insisting that the success of the organization has been a team effort.
”You couldn`t do all of this with only one person. It`s all of us working together to offer what we can, and this agency has an extraordinary amount to offer. That doesn`t mean we`re perfect, but we have so much potential, and dedication and I think we really do care,” Kottmeyer said. ”I think we can do bigger and better. I think we can fulfill a real important role in the state.”
Kottmeyer says he has ambitious plans for the St. Coletta`s property, but he is keeping them under wraps until the board has a chance to sign off on them.
”You can see when this all gets done it will be gorgeous,” said Kottmeyer, looking out of his office window onto the rolling acres of emptiness where buildings stood just a few months ago. ”This is going to be a beautiful place. The possibilities are limitless. It`s just a real exciting place to be right now.”
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For more information about St. Coletta`s or the Caritas Society`s Annual Ball call 708-448-6520.
