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At the turn of the 20th century, poor elderly people who didn't have families were sent to almshouses or poorhouses that met only minimal standards.
The homes were known for their dilapidated facilities and inadequate care, and states appeared to encourage the stigma as a motivating factor to keep people from relying on them.
Masonic organization Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania thought society should do better than that and, as Masons, the Grand Lodge should be doing better.
A call went out to communities throughout Pennsylvania to submit proposals on why their community would be best for a new development to house the elderly, to be called Masonic Homes.
The Masons received 33 responses and in 1910 deemed Elizabethtown to be the best location to found Masonic Homes.
To mark the 100th anniversary of its founding, Masonic Village is holding numerous events throughout the year for residents, employees, donors, volunteers, friends and neighbors.
A special event with musical performances and fireworks will be held in the formal gardens on June 25.
Joseph Murphy, chief executive officer of Masonic Village at Elizabethtown, said the founders believed Elizabethtown to be the best area for its home for the elderly for many reasons.
It had a train station, ample farmland, good water and good air, which had a freshness to it to keep people healthy.
Of the 33 sites considered "it was not the largest or smallest tract and it wasn't the cheapest, but it was the best tract," Murphy said.
The Masonic organization purchased about 50 pieces of property covering 997 acres for the home.
The first building, Grand Lodge Hall, which overlooks the formal garden, was constructed from 1911 to 1913.
But before construction even started on the lodge, a temporary building was put up, and it quickly filled with 35 residents.
When Grand Lodge was finally finished, it highly exceeded standards of the time, with a dining room that could seat 450 when the home had fewer than 100 residents.
The dining room has stained-glass windows and wood-carved arched ceilings that are 50 feet high.
"It is truly a spectacular dining room that 100 years later is still the best on campus," Murphy said. "It reminds me of the West Point dining hall."
Within the first five years, Masonic Homes built a hospital, where doctors performed surgeries for a number of years, a healthcare building and structures for children's services and residential living.
"The goal of the organization was to serve people who couldn't pay," Murphy said.
The only people turned down were the people who had money, as the Masons wanted to serve those who could not afford to go to another quality place, Murphy said.
When the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 created many orphans, Masonic Homes stayed focused on that mission and created its Children's Home.
During the next decade, when the stock market became inflated, Masonic Homes set money aside.
When the stock market plummeted and the Great Depression took hold, its finances had dropped substantially, but the number of applicants went up significantly — more than four times as many as earlier, Murphy said.
Masonic Homes continued to admit those age 60 or over — and spouses who were at least 55 — with the greatest need, he said, but it also developed its outreach program to help find other places for those it could not admit.
After the Depression ended and World War II began, it still couldn't hire people because potential workers were either in the military or in an industry supporting the military, Murphy said.
"We did the very essentials, but made sure those with the greatest need had services provided," he said.
To keep Masonic Homes afloat, everyone pulled together to get through these difficult times.
Residents — seen in photographs wearing suits and ties — helped in the farm fields.
The formal garden, which was important to the campus, wasn't mowed.
Today, Masonic Village at Elizabethtown — the name it adopted in 2004 — has the same vision as its founders, with $18 million to $20 million in a charitable fund providing retirement living for those unable to pay, he said.
In 1989, Murphy said, the senior living community discussed whether it could expand to serve people able to pay and still stay true to its mission.
The board decided to reach out based on people's multiple needs, such as social and medical, as well as financial.
"From 1990 until today, every time we finish a project, we have a bigger waiting list," Murphy said.
Today it has 678 retirement living apartments and cottages.
When Masonic Homes changed its admissions policy, the average number of residents was 704. It has grown to 1,700 adult residents, making it the 10th largest not-for-profit senior living community service organization in the United States.
Location is a tremendous benefit, Murphy said, but the village also has a tremendous benefit in its staff.
"Our mission is like a lot of nonprofits — it's important to provide the service, but it can only be achieved through a quality staff with a servant's heart. (Our employees) truly have a servant's heart," Murphy said.
For instance, during the recent snowstorms, staff members living in Selinsgrove showed up a day early to be on site when the snow hit.
"Multiple staff did the same, staying overnight on campus. Some staff went out to pick up other staff," Murphy said.
"We provided all services even though the world shut down. Fourteen miles of roads on our campus, driveways and parking lots were maintained. The staff did a tremendous job keeping it open for our residents."
As the country began its latest economic downturn in 2008, the only directives Masonic Village's administration received from its board was "to not do anything that will affect care and services, and take care of the staff."
Murphy said he used what Masonic Homes did during the Great Depression as a "baseline for us to plan the last two years."
When the administration met with the staff, they were told Masonic Village's first priority was not to lay off any of its 1,404 workers, Murphy said.
"We can't afford everything, but anything is possible," Murphy said the staff were told.
Because the staff felt appreciated, they came up with "the best ideas" — more than 400 were submitted — to help keep Masonic Village afloat financially during this economic meltdown, Murphy said.
A few included planting only perennials instead of annuals in the formal garden, allowing residents to opt out of meals or cut the number of meals, and closing down one dining room.
Because of these ideas, Masonic Village has been able to keep its services and staff intact, he said.
"The residents and staff stepped up in a major way," Murphy said.
"The staff has worked harder to get things done. ... They've put in phenomenal efforts ... and not one person has complained."
Although the economy appears on its way to recovery, Murphy said, Masonic Village is still on its austerity program.
That means it's putting many of its capital projects — such as a potential expansion of retirement living cottages and the normal refurbishing updates at its healthcare center and retirement living apartments — on hold until it's sure the stock market continues to improve and the money from its investments continues to grow.
"We've made it through 100 years —with some of it being a challenging time — and we're excited about the prospects of the next 100 years," Murphy said.
lvaningen@lnpnews.com
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