The 213th Annual Council - Diocese of Virginia

Annual Reports
Carolina taken in 2006, we did so. By conference call, we spoke with bishop-elect
Lawrence and were assured of his intention to uphold the doctrine, discipline and
worship of the Episcopal Church. Based on that conversation, and in an effort to be
agents of reconciliation, a majority of the Standing Committee consented to Bishop-elect
Lawrence’s consecration.
Finally, we are grateful to the talented and dedicated members of the diocesan staff who
provide support for much of our work.
This concludes the Standing Committee report for 2007.
Su b m i t t e d b y Th e Re v. Dr. Hi l a r y B. Sm i t h, Pr e s i d e n t
Virginia Diocesan Homes
Virginia Diocesan Homes, Incorporate (VDH), founded in 1955, represents the Diocese
in matters of residential care for the elderly. Its mission includes encouraging the
development of new residential care facilities for senior citizens in the Diocese and
maintaining liaison with and advising existing residential homes for the aged linked to
the Episcopal Church and located within the Diocese of Virginia.
Virginia Diocesan Homes is involved with the following retirement communities:
• Goodwin Houses, Alexandria and Bailey’s Crossroads
• Lockwood and Elmwood Houses, Arlington
• Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury, Irvington
• Shenandoah Valley Westminster Canterbury, Winchester
• Westminster Canterbury of the Blue Ridge, Charlottesville
• Westminster Canterbury, Richmond
The VDH Board elects or approves the election of members of these house Boards of
Directors/Trustees. It monitors services provided by institutions and reviews their
policies on care and service levels and fellowship/foundation programs. However, VDH
maintains an arms-length distance from the day-to-day management of existing homes
in order to safeguard the exposure of Diocese of Virginia to potential liabilities that could
arise from dictating house operations. It also tries to be alert to possible institutional
financial troubles.
Its role in developing new homes includes preliminary advice and counsel to potential
development groups, and provides seed money for projects in the form of loans or grants.
It offers assistance in obtaining professional analytic and feasibility help and helps to
establish minimum service standards as the project is defined. As its quid pro quo, it is
expected that the new development, once in operation, will be a faith-based environment
and enter into the relationship with VDH described in the previous paragraph.
The non-subsidized homes are Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC). CCRC
residents are entitled to independent, assisted living, and nursing levels of care. In today’s
social and economic climate, most people need to have substantial assets before they can
enter. As a matter of policy, each CCRC maintains a foundation which assists persons
without sufficient funds or who outlive their assets, but this serves only a part of the need.
In addition, there are two facilities located in Northern Virginia that from the beginning
were conceived to be subsidized by federal funds to serve the low income population. In
other areas of the Diocese there are a number of federally subsidized homes that respond
to some of the low income need, often through local housing authorities.
The Diocese of Virginia t Journal of the the 213 th Annual Council 147