It is a cozy, peaceful place. Homey. People sit to chat and play games, write letters and work on computers. “We all need a little peace,” says Regina Bennett, director of development at Mary Ryder Home. The Home provides that peace by sheltering older women in a residential facility in the Central West End. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one in three seniors in St. Louis lives at, near or below the poverty level. And many, says Bennett, also have suffered abuse. The Home has been in existence since 1930 when it was founded by concerned citizen Mary Elizabeth Ryder, who witnessed firsthand the devastation wrought by the Great Depression.
Although the Home was expected to close when the economy recovered, Ryder and others recognized an ongoing need to shelter vulnerable older women. Today, thanks to the United Way, public donations and fundraising efforts, more than 60 women, age 55 and older, are able to call it ‘home.’
Mary Ryder’s biggest fundraiser is its Annual Dinner and Auction, which takes place this year on Saturday, March 5, at the Edward Jones Headquarters in Des Peres. The event—’An Emerald Isle Affair’—has an Irish theme and features a Golden Ticket Raffle. “We sell 100 tickets for $100 each,” explains Bennett. “The winner gets to pick any item they want off the oral auction block.” One of those happens to be a trip to Ireland. “With the money raised, we will continue to provide a safe home and compassionate care for our residents. Many of them have never had this before,” Bennett says.
Terry Jones-Signaigo, assistant administrator, has worked at the Home for much of her life. Mary Ryder was her great-grandmother. Four generations of her family, she says, have devoted their lives to providing a haven for elderly women in need. “We take care of our residents by making sure they are healthy and safe,” Jones-Signaigo says. Residents receive on- and off-site medical care and are engaged both mentally and physically in activities like yoga, jewelry-making and chair-dancing. The Missouri Botanical Garden gives classes in flower arranging. Church and corporate groups come to play games. “We take care of the whole person,” Bennett says. There is no limit to the length of time the women may stay. The Home’s only stipulation is that residents have both the physical and cognitive ability to get themselves to safety should an emergency arise.
Jones-Signaigo is passionate about her work and thinks back fondly on her earliest memories there. She says she and her mother would go out in the middle of the night to pick up women who needed help. “She would pile us into the station wagon and off we’d go” she remembers. Jones-Signaigo says when her own daughter was young, she told a teacher she had 70 grandmothers—“in all shapes, sizes and colors.” She has a photograph of herself as a very young child, standing on a holiday table surrounded by Mary Ryder residents. “This is home to me, too,” she says.
Mary Ryder Home hosts An Emerald Isle Affair Annual Dinner and Fundraising Auction beginning at 6 p.m., March 5, at the Edward Jones Headquarters in Des Peres. Tickets are $100. Proceeds go to the home, which provides compassionate residential care to women age 55 and older. Pictured on the cover: Carol Daniel of KMOX, auction co-chair Mimi Butler, Mary Ryder resident Jonie Eckert, auction co-chair Trish Goldberg and resident Mary Green. For more information, visit maryryderhome.org.
Cover design by Jon Fogel | Cover photo by Colin Miller of Strauss Peyton Photography
Pictured: Residents enjoyed flower arranging with Missouri Botanical Garden volunteers.
Photo courtesy of Mary Ryder Home
