Connecticut’s Last Almshouse May Close

In this fancy suburb, home to such celebrities as Diana Ross and Ivan Lendl, there is also Jean Cross, a resident of the last almshouse in Connecticut.

Parsonage Cottage, in the hallowed tradition of municipal “poorhouses,” has been home to people down on their luck for nearly a century.

Now the state, facing hard times of its own, may have to sharply reduce funding. Unless someone picks up the estimated $200,000 loss, the stucco cottage may have to close in July.

“When I first heard this place might close, I thought: ‘Oh please, no,’ ” said Cross, an 82-year-old grandmother. “I do like it here very much and I don’t want to live with my daughters--they have lives of their own.”

Cross and the 13 other current residents have banded together to fight for Parsonage Cottage, making their case to city officials at a hearing last month. One even wrote to President Bush, reminding him that their fathers were friends during the early 1900s. The President grew up in Greenwich and his mother, Dorothy, still lives in town.

“I am facing the probable loss of my home,” wrote Germaine Quentin, 82, who moved to Greenwich from France at age 4.

“If we could have the funding reinstated, we would be terribly happy in our late years,” she said. “Please help us preserve our home, not just for us, but others who face old age on limited incomes.”

When the cottage was built in 1905, it was called the “town home,” and took in only the neediest. Over the years, it has evolved into more of a retirement home where not all residents are on welfare.

Four of the residents pay their own way, through Social Security, pensions and private savings, said Barbara Fulton, director of Greenwich’s Division of Aging Services.

Welfare benefits go to the 10 others--the state’s only General Assistance recipients over age 65, said William Rufleth, the program’s director.

Although residents have generally been elderly, the town during the 1970s decided to restrict admission to those older than 60. Current residents are ages 67 to 92.

Most live three to a room, with modest beds and dressers and scattered personal touches such as family photographs. There is a large community room where they watch television, do crossword puzzles, knit or settle into a corner by themselves to write letters.

The spacious sun porch is another favorite gathering place. Residents can also take quiet walks around the 12 wooded acres that surround the house.

State and local officials have assured residents that other homes will be found if the cottage closes.

But cottage staff members say closing could have a devastating effect on some residents, particularly those who would be forced to go into a more restrictive nursing home.

“Moving is tough for anyone, but can you imagine what it’s like for someone in their 80s or 90s?” asked Patricia Butterworth, the home’s live-in director.

Last year, Parsonage Cottage received $209,000 in General Assistance funds from the state, $154,000 from the town and $192,000 in direct payments from residents or their families, Fulton said.

The money from the state worked out to about $1,240 per resident a month, contrasted with the average of $311 a month received by other General Assistance recipients in Connecticut, said Claudette Beaulieu, spokeswoman for the state Department of Income Maintenance.