MINT HILL — Located at 8700 Lawyers Road in Mint Hill is The Little Flower Catholic Assisted Living, a small nursing home that tries to live up to its namesake, the young French Carmelite nun St. Thérèse of Lisieux, also known as "The Little Flower."
And just like its patroness, who embraced the spirituality of the "Little Way," or doing the little things with lots of love daily, the staff of The Little Flower provide a place that 40 seniors, Catholic or not, call home.
Although about only a dozen of The Little Flower's current residents are Catholic, the staff in general share a collective sentiment that there is something very special and holy that meets the eye of all who visit the home.
"Even non-Catholics can feel the presence of the Lord when they enter – because not all of our residents are Catholic, so we have to also feed them from a worship standpoint. We have other denominations, and other ministers that do come in to share their faith. It's all about us serving the same God," facility manager Deloris Brown noted.
Built in 1996, The Little Flower was the brainchild of Sharon Mayfield and Keith Adams, both members of Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Charlotte at the time. "They both had a dream of building a small little assisted living (center) in the Mint Hill area, which is 'The Little Flower,' named in honor of St. Thérèse," office manager Jodi Fowler said.
Fowler, a Catholic, has worked there since day one. "It will be 21 years in January. Just after it opened, I came on board as a nurse aide. Then I became a med tech. I was the resident care manager for years. About 2000, I moved up to the business office," she recalled.
Although Catholics were a minority in the Mint Hill area in 1996, the Catholic population in Charlotte and the surrounding areas has boomed in recent years. The Little Flower provides an important service to sustain the faith of area seniors.
"I think that there's a need," said Fowler. "I have a lot of people that come in looking for an assisted living where they can still go to Mass, pray the rosary in the morning. And we offer all of that here. That's a huge part of their life."
Mary Jayne Szyper's mother Theresa is one of the Catholic residents at The Little Flower. Now 98 years old, she has lived at The Little Flower since 2010. Szyper said she chose The Little Flower to care for her mother because the sense of community there set it apart.
"I fell in love with the chapel and Deloris (Brown) and Jodi (Fowler), who are still here; much of the staff that was here in 2010 and '11 are also still here. But the love and devotion that these ladies have is just wonderful," Szyper said.
The Catholic focus and faith emphasis of The Little Flower also swayed her, Szyper said. Mass is offered at least twice a week, currently by Father Joe Mulligan.
As chaplain of The Little Flower, Father Mulligan said his aim is to provide a "sacramental presence" there for residents, "an ongoing connection to their Catholic faith."
"That's my primary responsibility," he said.
Besides celebrating Mass, Father Mulligan also administers the sacrament of anointing of the sick for residents, and he offers memorial Masses for deceased residents and their families.
Mayfield sold The Little Flower in 2004 to Premier Senior Living, a for-profit company with independent, assisted and skilled nursing homes facilities in the Carolinas and Georgia.
Brown, trained by Mayfield, became the manager when Mayfield departed. A cradle Catholic and long-time member of Our Lady of Consolation Church, Brown was vocal in maintaining The Little Flower's Catholic identity. As new ownership was getting ready to renovate the building, Brown said she let upper management know about the non-negotiables: "(I) wasn't real sure what kind of presence they wanted to portray here, and I said, 'One thing we will not compromise is the Catholic orientation here, and especially the chapel. That has to stay in.'"
The new owners didn't object and Brown is proud to say that the Catholic atmosphere at The Little Flower has remained unchanged.
Father Mulligan echoed Brown's description of The Little Flower. "We just finished celebrating Mass where we talked about the value of a cup of cold water, and talked about how it fits in the Church's Year of Mercy. I think all that is manifested in this place. The scale and size of this facility, and the way it is orchestrated and carried out, seem to reflect the values of the Catholic ethos."
— Rico De Silva, Hispanic Communications Reporter