St. Charles Communities geographic footprint expands to current site of St. Joseph Heights

Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

In a joint statement by the Sisters of Notre Dame and St. Charles Community, it was announced that the two organizations had “reached a preliminary agreement for an expansion of the St. Charles’ ministry to take place on the Dixie Highway campus of the SND.”

The Dixie Highway campus is known by many as the beloved St. Joseph Heights, Park Hills. With St. Charles Community acquiring the property, it was announced that St. Joseph Heights will be razed this summer.

In January of 2023 the Sisters of Notre Dame began officially moving out of the historic, storied home at St. Joseph Heights. Though the physical moving process began in 2023, the spiritual process of discernment began many years ago as the Sisters’ need for physical space began to diminish.

As the average age of the sisters grew, so too did the number of sisters whose level of care exceeded the capabilities available at St. Joseph Heights. As a result, the hallowed halls of St. Joseph Heights became increasingly empty as did the need for such a large space.

“Two years ago, that was a big piece of it, where we had to come to grips with what was happening. Here we had a big building, the number of sisters was shrinking, the expense was beginning to outweigh the gift of what was happening … We realized that it’s too big for us, and also, not necessarily the best for us,” said Notre Dame Sister Shauna Bankemper, assistant provincial and Leadership Team Member.

“The upkeep of such a large building, we felt, was not a good use of resources … Ten years ago Pope Francis declared the Year of Consecrated Life and one of the things he said to religious communities is look at your buildings and see how they need to be repurposed … For him and for us it is always how can that promote the mission? How can it serve the mission? Because that is why we exist in the first place,” said Notre Dame Sister Marla Monahan, vicar for religious, Diocese of Covington.

“All of us realize that the brick and mortar of this building holds beautiful memories, but we also want our mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame to go forward and if we can provide an environment for that mission … to thrive that’s, what I think, the future of this property is about,” said Sister Shauna.

Sister Marla added to this sentiment, “For us, we tried to see if there was a potential other us for the building. The cost of renovating an old building and what would be the mission needs. To be good stewards of resources, to keep the focus on mission, we first  reached out to Notre Dame Academy to see if their future plans might include some- thing of the property or building and it did not. Secondly, we reached out to our sponsored ministry, St. Charles Community.”

St. Charles Community is one of several sponsored ministries of the Sisters of Notre Dame, and where many of the sisters now live after moving from St. Joseph Heights.

“We made a decision that we would send our skilled care, our infirmary, to St. Charles. They have a wing called the Homestead available and we wanted to be able to pro- vide for our sisters there in that facility and we would bring our own staff… We have 18 sisters that live there and are getting the skilled care that they need,” said Sister Shauna. In addition to the sisters needing skilled care, other sisters wished to be close to healthcare and their fellow sisters.

“We realized that the future of our sisters would be on the St. Charles campus and so the sisters moved to St. Charles Lodge,” said Sister Shauna.

St. Charles Lodge is the assisted  living facility of the St. Charles Community. Its residents are independent enough to live on their own but need more support than what is typically practical at home.

In total, there are 38 sisters now living in the St. Charles Community at either the Lodge or Homestead.

Sister Shauna said that while the decision to move was not an easy one, the 38 sisters now living at St. Charles feel at ease in their new home. “It was a communal decision that we would be moving from the building, that was two years ago, that made the move a little bit easier. The sisters at St. Charles are very happy and content, that makes it a little easier.”

While the Sisters of Notre Dame may not have a use for the building they used to call home, St. Charles Community has found a use for the property on which the building sits.

“We believe that this expansion will enable us to reach more seniors in desperate need of compassionate care and services, while honoring and preserving the legacy of the Sisters of Notre Dame,” said Nichole Smith, executive director of the St. Charles Community, in the joint statement.

Sister Shauna assured those who love St. Joseph Heights that while the building will no longer be standing, the mission for which it stood will remain steadfast.

“In making decisions about the future, our goal is to maximize our mission-related impact and to continue to strengthen our existing ministries. We believe that transitioning the St. Joseph Heights property to St. Charles will provide significant benefits to both the sisters and St. Charles, and to the broader Covington/Park Hills communities,” she said in the joint statement. “This is the next step in St. Joseph Heights’ further service to mission.”