McGowan Home: Small but Mighty
by Linda Buchalo
Following a long holiday hiatus, we’ll continue our tour of the residential living areas on the Misericordia campus. Today, we’ll visit McGowan Home, built in the summer of 1998. The home is brick construction with large windows so that the residents can easily view the outdoors. McGowan has 16 adult residents, both men and women, all of whom have physical disabilities with similar needs. The residence has a common living room, dining room, and bedrooms with accessible bathrooms. The house was built with spacious areas to accommodate positioning equipment and therapy needs. There is also an office for the QIDP. McGowan has a garden area where residents can gather to enjoy nature and spend time outdoors.
Four staff are present per shift with two overnight staff. Although the residents are non-ambulatory, they are moderately independent with daily living activities. Staff ensure that they get the assistance they need while maintaining the highest possible level of independence.
Residents engage in a wide variety of activities, including sing-along, sewing group, reading group, yoga, gardening, and OT/PT therapy. Reading group happens weekly via Zoom and nightly with a small group in-house. Sounds like there are some avid readers at McGowan! Outside of their home, residents keep fit by attending pool and fitness, bocce ball, and campus walks. To stimulate their creativity, they attend art, where they work on their masterpieces for The Artist in All. Another popular activity is sitting on the front patio listening to music.
McGowan residents attend developmental training programs during the day. Although no one works in the community, a few residents use their expertise to assist DePaul speech therapy students through a virtual class. They teach the students how they use their communication devices and demonstrate the benefits of having these devices.
Because of Covid, interaction with residents has been limited, but Zoom calls enable virtual visits at the sing-along, sewing group, and weekly reading group. Virtual camp also provided together-time with other Misericordia neighbors. With activities beginning to open up, McGowan residents will join with Connelly Home residents for bocce ball.
During the days of the pandemic, art classes switched to an in-house program, where several residents worked on paintings for the upcoming AIA show. One resident commented: “I’m happy I can work from home like everyone else in the world.” Some residents continue to “work from home” with their painting.
Some residents have come from other areas while some moved into McGowan on their arrival at Misericordia. McGowan residents are well known around campus; they can often be seen on their bikes, in a gait trainer, visiting the gardens, and enjoying the sun.
There are strong personalities among the residents and staff, but they meld together well. You can feel the love and energy that exudes within the home. McGowan seems like its own little world. The general feeling is very family-like. Staff and residents bond together to form a tight-knit group. The home is affectionately referred to as the Party House. It’s a fun place to be—lots of banter, jokes, laughing, and kidding around. A few of the residents are pranksters, so if you come inside, prepare to get pranked. You don’t want to mess with the McGowan crew—these guys are small in number but mighty!
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