Retirement complex for Jehovah's Witnesses in Salisbury Township

[Willow]

http://articles.mcall.com/2014-02-06/business/mc-jehova-witness-retirement-home-20140205_1_jehovah-witnesses-serfass-construction

 

Retirement complex for Jehovah's Witnesses in Salisbury Township

Workers from 20 local trades to build retirement complex in Salisbury Township.

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Artist rendering of a Jehovahs Witnesses retirement home to be built in… (SERFASS CONSTRUCTION,…)

February 06, 2014|By Sam Kennedy, Of The Morning Call

Groundbreaking on a retirement complex for aging Jehovah's Witnesses in Salisbury Township is scheduled to begin next month.

The $6.5 million Legacy Place Cottages — to be at 2051 Bevin Drive, near the southern entrance to South Mall — will consist of two single-story buildings totaling 30,000 square feet, according to Serfass Construction of North Whitehall Township, which is overseeing the project on behalf of the nonprofit group Jah-Jireh Homes of America.

"It will blend into the neighborhood. These two buildings will look like large homes when they done," Serfass Vice President Matthias Fenstermacher said. "They are spending quite a bit of money to make it look like that."

According to Jah-Jireh's website, the group's goal is "to care for aging Jehovah's Witnesses who need assistance with aspects of daily living and are no longer able to stay in their own home."

Jah-Jireh's board consists of members from throughout the state and from as far away as Grand Rapids, Mich., though the chairman, Darbin T. Skeans, is from Allentown, according to the site.

Neither Skeans nor anyone else from the group could be reached for comment.

Jehovah's Witnesses are a Christian sect that was formed in this country in the late 1800s and is governed today by a ruling body based in Brooklyn, N.Y. They are familiar to many people through their door-to-door missionary work, responsible for distributing countless copies of "The Watchtower" and "Awake!" to homes throughout the world.

Although Christian, Jehovah's Witnesses subscribe to tenets that distinguish them from Catholics and mainstream Protestants. They reject the concept of the Trinity (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), and they do not celebrate Christmas or Easter.

Fenstermacher said Legacy Place Cottage is a good fit for Serfass Construction — a third-generation, family-owned enterprise established in 1948 — because the company has developed a specialty in health care-related projects. About 20 to 30 percent of its work is tied to health care, he said.

More than 20 local trades will work on the project, and as many as 50 workers will be on site on any given day during nine months of construction, according to Serfass. The first day of work is set for March 1.

"As long as the weather breaks, that's when we're starting," Fenstermacher said.

The land on which Legacy Place Cottages will be built is in a residential area between the busy Auto Mile on Lehigh Street and the Little Lehigh Creek.

The project will include a number of provisions to protect the Little Lehigh Creek watershed, according to Fenstermacher. For example, he said, captured run-off from a sprinkler system will be used to irrigate landscaped areas.

 

[Julsey]

Wow, wish there were more of these.  Most nursing homes run by the world are living nightmares.

[1gemstone]

is this in Maryland?

[Elijahsmama]

is this in Maryland?

Allentown, pennsylvania.

[Qapla]

Right Here

A closer look just where it is:

Edited February 22, 2014 by Qapla

[1gemstone]

WOW...that's close to where I live.....not far at all - thanks!

[Elijahsmama]

WOW...that's close to where I live.....not far at all - thanks!

Where do you live? This new facility is extremely close to me.

[1gemstone]

Where do you live? This new facility is extremely close to me.

It's listed under my name........lol

[Elijahsmama]

It's listed under my name........lol

I am usually on my iPhone and have to switch over to see the full site. We spend many many many weeks in your fair city with the RBC. Just about an hour north of it. Also many years of vet stadium ( yea that's over)

[Sheep]

Actually, there are a few of these homes around the world.

 

The original United Kingdom location, in operation for almost 30 years.

 

A video from the UK location.

 

The Jah-Jireh home in Beamsville, Ontario, Canada.

 

The Netherlands. (In Dutch. A rough English translation here.)

 

The website of the future Jah-Jireh home in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

 

Similar not-for-profit homes are located, or are being planned, in the Czech Republic, Poland, South Korea, and Denmark. However, I cannot find any websites for these.

[1gemstone]

I am usually on my iPhone and have to switch over to see the full site. We spend many many many weeks in your fair city with the RBC. Just about an hour north of it. Also many years of vet stadium ( yea that's over)

Boy do I miss the Vet, many moons ago. Now we have to travel to our DC, we're going to Wiles Berre this summer.

Edited February 23, 2014 by 1gemstone

[Elijahsmama]

Boy do I miss the Vet, many moons ago. Now we have to travel to our DC, we're going to Wiles Berre this summer.

We are usually assigned to reading but go to Wilkes barre easier for my mom and little

Kids. This year we are actually as

[Elijahsmama]

Boy do I miss the Vet, many moons ago. Now we have to travel to our DC, we're going to Wiles Berre this summer.

We are usually assigned to reading but go to Wilkes barre easier for my mom and little

Kids. This year we are actually assigned to Wilkes barre since there are not any conventions in reading. Unfortunately July 4-6 so the hotels are filled. I don't want to drive back and forth with everybody. Oh well it will work out.

[Kevin Anthony]

That is very cool! I take it these projects are based on personal motivations, much like Stoops, and other businesses that specifically cater to the brotherhood?

[1gemstone]

We are usually assigned to reading but go to Wilkes barre easier for my mom and little

Kids. This year we are actually assigned to Wilkes barre since there are not any conventions in reading. Unfortunately July 4-6 so the hotels are filled. I don't want to drive back and forth with everybody. Oh well it will work out.

Last year we went to Trenton and the year before that we went to Reading. Wilkes Barre will be a challenge for me due to my disability, we go the weekend of June 20th. Don't get me wrong I'm always up for the challenge, but its a 2 hour bus ride from what I'm hearing and even if I get a room, I will still need transportation to the DC/RC. Frankly, I'm not a morning person, with my disability it will be tough.  

[Elijahsmama]

That is very cool! I take it these projects are based on personal motivations, much like Stoops, and other businesses that specifically cater to the brotherhood?

it's definitely a business and it's not cheap but if you can afford to move in one the benefits are really nice.

[Elijahsmama]

That is very cool! I take it these projects are based on personal motivations, much like Stoops, and other businesses that specifically cater to the brotherhood?

it's definitely a business and it's not cheap but if you can afford to move in one the benefits are really nice.

[Elijahsmama]

That is very cool! I take it these projects are based on personal motivations, much like Stoops, and other businesses that specifically cater to the brotherhood?

it's definitely a business and it's not cheap but if you can afford to move in one the benefits are really nice.

[Stavro]

Last year we went to Trenton and the year before that we went to Reading. Wilkes Barre will be a challenge for me due to my disability, we go the weekend of June 20th. Don't get me wrong I'm always up for the challenge, but its a 2 hour bus ride from what I'm hearing and even if I get a room, I will still need transportation to the DC/RC. Frankly, I'm not a morning person, with my disability it will be tough.  

 

Check with your congregation secretary for an updated lodging list, since not all rooms are available during the week/month of the initial announcement. If that doesn't help, or you can't afford the full rate, ask around to see if anyone has a local hotel reservation and wouldn't mind an extra rollaway bed in the room.

 

One way or another, Jehovah will provide a way to get there. Just leave it in his hands and be patient, and something will open up before you know it.

[GStorrs46]

  I think this will prove to be a blessing to many of the brothers and sisters who can avail themselves to it.

I have lived in 3 different nursing homes and retirement communities over the last 4 1/2 plus years, My Mom

was also in another facility were she also died. While many of these facilities do have caring staffs who try

to do the best they can for their patients, still it is a challenge and a trial. Especially so for a witness who has 

deal with all these worldly people, their costumes and their ways 24/7. I know for myself it at times has tried me

to the core. and my poor mother hated every last minute of being there, I'm convinced it helped speed her own

death because she was only in there for a year. Seeing her that way was one of the most painful experiences

of my life. I am glade to see and hear of facilities being built that can care for all of the needs of our aging

brothers and sisters. I can hope, if this system continues much longer, this will become even more widespread.

I myself did not truly appreciate what life is like in living in one of these places. Because despite how nice the

home may be, I still call this my benevolent prison. Because after you have been here awhile that is what it

feels like to you.

 

                                                                                                                                                  GStorrs46