By Margot Klima
RICHFIELD TOWNSHIP-Ayoung girl’s dream of a real doll house became a dream come true for the elderly residents at Regina Health Center.
It all started out with an old, somewhat dilapidated doll house that was donated by a volunteer. After some rehabilitation followed by seven months of intricate, tedious work, it was a second place winner in the Cooperative Arts category in an annual art and writing exhibition, which was held at the center in July.
“It was a community project,” director of activities Chris Therens said. “We asked the residents what they would like to see in the house, and they had many suggestions. All were welcome, and they were so excited to participate in this unusual venture.”
Those who volunteered to help on the project chose what they would like to contribute, anything that suited their interests and abilities. One resident who always wears flip flops was determined to give flip flops a place in the house. So, there they are, sitting near the door. Another, who is an avid tea drinker, wanted a tea set, which is now has a prominent place in the house.
A core group of 11 residents volunteered, meeting regularly or individually to work on their particular projects.
Great-grandmother, 84-year-old Jean Simeone, didn’t let a stroke which left her left arm paralyzed prevent her from painstakingly remaking the chimney and fireplace with her good arm, spending hours carefully placing tiny stones in the grouting. “It gave me such a good feeling to be able to help,” she said.
Ninety-seven-year-old Dominican Sister Celine Hete called on crocheting that she learned from her mother, fashioning the tiny colorful rugs for various rooms in the house. “I never had a doll house like this when I was a child,” she said.
Wilda Silvis, a 79-year-old jack of all trades, did a little bit of everything throughout the house, from cutting and installing the carpeting and wallpaper for the rooms to completing and detailing unfinished miniatures, including a baby cradle. She also helped fashion the tiny window boxes with flowers and made small wash cloths cut from towels.
“I’m the painter,” 91-year-old Dominican Sister Louise Werner, a former teacher and principal in Cleveland, said. She called on her years of painting the many homes where she lived, giving the exterior of the house and shutters two coats of paint.
The completed doll house has everything a young girl would want, including a variety of special additions down to the door knocker and address on the front door (the center’s own) to the flower boxes, a grandfather’s clock, even a prayer room with a mural created by one of the residents and a donated stain glass window.
Contents of the doll house came from a variety of sources, including craft kits, refashioned items from Christmas tree ornaments, miniatures shops, donations, Goodwill stores and other odds and ends.
The finished doll house met with great enthusiasm and approval. When several people suggested raffling off the house, it was a unanimous, “Oh, no” from the group. “We want it to stay right here so everyone can enjoy it,” Silvis said. “It brings back so many memories for people.”
The Association of Ohio Philanthropic Homes, Housing and Services for the Aging (AOPHA), an advocacy group for not-for-profit aging services providers throughout Ohio, sponsors the annual competition, covering many artistic endeavors, including computer, needle, wearable and woven arts; small quilted works; photography; cooperative and fine arts; and prose fiction and non-fiction and poetry. This year 11 providers participated in this Midwest Ohio region exhibition at the center. In September, the winners from all eight regions in Ohio will go on to a statewide competition in Columbus.
Regina Health Center, a collaborative ministry sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, provides compassionate and holistic health care primarily for members of religious communities and clergy of the dioceses of Cleveland and Youngstown and other persons needing supportive services or residential nursing care in a God-centered environment.
Klima is a freelance writer.