Grace Clem has lived in Evergreen House, an Annandale independent living community, since 1985.

“This house is for people with great need and at the time I moved in, having been a widow twice, I had a need for help, counseling and someone to take care of me,” Clem said.

At the time, Clem’s son was in the Army Reserves and was spending much of the time away. Clem was looking for a place where she could feel secure. She believes moving into Evergreen House during that time helped add a “great deal of stability” to her life.

“The staff here has always been very reliable and well-skilled,” Clem said. “They’re not amateurs. They can take care of things very well.”

Evergreen House is one of five independent living communities built by St. Mary’s Housing Corporation, a group dedicated to providing low- to mid-income senior citizens with a safe, affordable place to live. The group was founded in the early 1970s by the late Msgr. Joseph Wingler, then pastor of St. Mary Parish in Alexandria. The corporation’s president, Father Frank McAfee, pastor of St. John the Beloved Parish in McLean, has been involved with St. Mary’s Housing since the 1980s.

Roy Russo, vice president of St. Mary’s Housing, has been involved with the group since its inception. Russo became interested in social action after attending an eight-week session entitled, “Project Commitment,” in 1968 at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington. A few years later, he attended the meeting in Richmond to discuss the formation of St. Mary’s Housing.

“It’s a very special category of people in need that we help,” Russo said. “Not everyone retires rich. It’s a niche that the Church has had an interest in, and one that Father Wingler had a particular interest in.”

Evergreen House, completed in 1978, was the first finished project of St. Mary’s Housing. The 224-unit apartment community celebrated its 30th anniversary last month with guest speakers and a catered lunch for residents.

A year after the completion of Evergreen House, the 129-unit Marywood Apartments opened in Manassas. As the years passed, more buildings opened — Fredericksburg’s 130-unit Madonna House in 1998, 132-unit Phase I of Wingler House in 1999, and another 132-unit phase in 2003, both in Ashburn. St. Mary’s Housing is looking for a location within the Arlington Diocese for another home.

While the homes are spread out around the diocese, they all work toward the same mission: providing seniors with everything they need to maintain active, independent lifestyles. The residents all live in their own apartments, complete with bathrooms and kitchenettes. While the homes do not provide meals — all residents are responsible for their own cooking — they do provide in-house beauty salons, exercise equipment, TV lounges and free transportation to banks and grocery stores.

In addition, some houses boast computer rooms, craft and game rooms, libraries, screened-in terraces and weekly visits from doctors or the local farmer’s market.

“We focus on their needs as a community of seniors,” said Denise Nick, property manager of Wingler House in Ashburn. “Whatever their needs, we try to make accommodations for them.”

The homes host entertainment and activities to foster a sense of community among residents. Such activities include bingo nights, card games, sing-alongs and movie nights. At Evergreen House, residents enjoy frequent visits from a line dance teacher and an exercise instructor. At Madonna House in Fredericksburg, the staff is planning a resident’s 100th birthday party that will be attended by the mayor.

“Everything we have here, it is for the residents,” said Cheri Wiseman, assistant property manager of Madonna House. “All the residents are known by name. We really open our doors to them.”

Rose Olsen, property manager of Evergreen House, agreed.

“(St. Mary’s Housing Corporation) is all for the seniors. They want to take care of people and they are very people oriented,” Olson said. “They are wonderful people out to do good.”

Donna Grove, property manager of Wingler House II in Ashburn, believes what makes the St. Mary’s Housing properties special is the sense of community among the residents.

“They kind of take each other under their wing and take care of one another,” Grove said.

While speaking at the 30th anniversary of Evergreen House, Pat Bessette, Quantum Real Estate Management property manager, talked about her thoughts on the properties.

“I really believe that if all the cities and towns had an Evergreen House, the world would be a better place,” Bessette said.

Helen Mavrommati, who has lived at Evergreen House for 19 years, said one of the things she likes about the house is its comfortable, homey atmosphere.

“The first time I came here, I liked it very much,” Mavrommati said. “This is the best one I’ve ever seen.”

Find out more

For information on qualifying to live at any of the St. Mary’s Housing Corporation properties, call Quantum Real Estate Management, LLC at 301/941-8040.