On Sunday, June 1, El Parque Home in Colonia Belgrano, Uruguay, celebrated its 25th anniversary. The following article describes a bit of the history and the current mission of Hogar El Parque.
The history of Hogar El Parque began in 1993, when Wilma Rommel and Álvaro Michelin Salomón were in Colonia Belgrano and a committee was formed to evaluate the feasibility of establishing a home for older adults. Unfortunately, the committee was not able to find a way either to find a suitable location for a senior home or to raise sufficient funds to operate a home. Happily, after a while a woman from a neighboring town, Luisa Comba de Rond, came forward and said that she and her husband wanted to give enough money to build a new senior home. Soon another committee was formed that included representatives from most of the major community institutions in Colonia Belgrano. The decision was made to purchase a suitable house, which Luisa Comba de Rond purchased and then donated to be the site of the new Hogar El Parque. And so began a story that now stretches 25 years.
Currently, the Hogar El Parque has 21 residents and 12 staff members. The number of residents grew to its present level between 2006 and 2008 thanks to a project supported by the Otto Per Mille of the Waldensian Methodist Churches in Italy. This project made it possible for the Hogar El Parque to accept male residents too. Previously it had only woman residents due to limited space.
Hogar El Parque describes its work as “providing care and support to all residents and creating a warm and family-like environment that allow each resident to live with dignity and quality of life.” Among the home’s activities are psychological support, psychomotor therapy, physical education, special celebrations such as worship, birthday parties, and visits from the Waldensian pastor Sergio Bertinat and a local Catholic parish priest.
Hogar El Parque offers day, night, permanent, and semi-permanent residential services. It is important to mention that the home now has large new washing machines and clothes dryers making it possible for residents to have clean linens and clothes. The new machines were also funded by Otto Per Mille.
The Hogar El Parque’s residents and staff were joined in their celebration on June 1 by members of the city government of Colonia Belgrano as well as by representatives of local community institutions and town residents. On Saturday, June 7, residents and family members enjoyed an additional celebration with hot chocolate and cake. A photo contest was also held, asking for photos with a sunrise theme.
During the June 1 ceremony, a plaque that now adorns the Home’s facilities was unveiled. Engraved on the plaque is a verse from the Old Testament: “Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you” (Deuteronomy 32:7).
Hogar El Parque is one of several Waldensian-related residential centers in South America and Italy for senior adults. The America Waldensian Society welcomes the chance to share reports from these senior centers whenever they celebrate important milestones in their ministries.
