Remodeling Planned At Frances Warde Towers

WEST HARTFORD On Wednesday afternoon, Linda, 66, seemed cheerful and composed as she welcomed guests into her one-room apartment in the Frances Warde Towers at St. Mary Home.

But when she arrived there nearly six years ago, she had hit rock-bottom, she said, after struggling all her life with long-undiagnosed bipolar disorder. Linda asked that her last name not be used to protect her privacy.

She said she had gotten divorced, filed for bankruptcy and ended up crawling from her back door into traffic in a suicide attempt, which landed her in the psychiatric ward at the UConn Health Center for about a month. After that, her daughter and a social worker told her it would be best for her to live at the Frances Warde Towers.

The facility and its staff "saved my life," she said.

A $75,000 grant from Catholic Health East's Heritage Fund will be used to begin extensive remodeling of the apartments in Frances Warde Towers, a residential care facility with 97 residents. The towers, built in 1880, are the original building of St. Mary Home on Albany Avenue.

The apartments haven't been updated since the late 1980s, officials said. They expect to spend about $92,000 to remodel eight to 12 apartments this year.

Catholic Health East is a network of Catholic health care institutions, and its Heritage Fund helps with programs and projects at health care institutions that serve underserved and disadvantaged people.

The Frances Warde Towers also provides housing for up to 16 homeless people who are transitioning to independent living through a partnership with the Mercy Housing and Shelter Corp. in Hartford.

Maryann Loveland, director of Frances Warde Towers, said all the residents there need services, whether for physical, mental, financial or other problems.

"Usually the families realize they need a little extra care," she said.

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Remodeling Planned At Frances Warde Towers