1956
- Phoebe took a big step - out of Allentown - and carried
its mission into central Pennsylvania by acquiring the
110-bed Devitt Camp, a former Tuberculosis treatment
center near Williamsport. For the next 12 years Phoebe
operated the skilled nursing community as Devitt Home.
1963
- A building campaign for the proposed East Wing was
launched with a goal of $1 million. Achieving its goal,
Phoebe added the East Wing and remodeled rooms on the
ground floor of the administration building, completing
them in time to accommodate 72 residents from the now
defunct Devitt Home.
1972
- The construction of Phoebe Apartments was Phoebe's
first project aimed at meeting the independent-living
lifestyle needs of senior adults. Its 131 units provided
residential care with minimum supervision to seniors
with modest means.
1977
- 1982 The chapel and activities wing added more space for
programs, activities and worship in Phoebe Home. The Intermediate Care Facility
went up on the western side of the Home in response,
again, to the increasing number of applicants needing
more nursing care. An annex to the East Wing
in brought the Home's bed count to more than 400.
1984
- Again turning its attention to independent living
needs, Phoebe Terrace was added to the Allentown campus
in 1984. The 88-unit continuing care retirement community
was fully occupied within a short time.
1988
- The David A. Miller Assisted Living Community was
finished and attached to the Home by a third-floor catwalk.
The 1911 Dormitory was then renovated for administrative
offices.
Phoebe
didn't spread her wings outside of Allentown again until
a challenge from UCC churches in Berks County prompted
Board Members to the purchase 66 acres of farmland near
Wernersville. Just as the Church
was bold in its response to the needs of older adults
at the beginning of the 20th century, Phoebe was bold
as it created new communities of independent living,
assisted living and skilled health care outside of Reading
at the dawn of a new millennium.
1991 - The independent living cottages
were opened to their first residents, and the 120-bed
Health Care Center was dedicated in 1992. By 1994, 37
cottages, 194 apartments, a 51-bed personal care unit,
and a Village Center completed the community. Inspired
by the success of the federally funded Phoebe Apartments,
the Board of Trustees decided to expand their venture
into low-cost senior apartments in the 1990's. Phoebe
opened its arms to the elderly in central Pennsylvania
once again when Devitt House, a joint venture with the
Penn Central Conference of the United Church of Christ,
took in its first residents in 1991.
1992
- Phoebe acquired a community medical center and 122-bed
nursing home in Bangor, Northampton County. For the
next thirteen years, Phoebe Slate Belt Nursing and Rehabilitation
Center offered nursing and rehabilitative care, as well
as a full service lab, mammography, immunization clinics
and outpatient services to residents and members of
the community. In December of 2005, Phoebe Slate Belt
was acquired by Extendicare Health Services, Inc. of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1995
- After the success of the continuing care complex in
Wernersville, Phoebe completed the construction of Furnace
Creek Manor, its first affordable housing community
in the Reading area. Located in Robesonia, Berks County,
the apartment community contains 24 units of affordable
housing for seniors. Through the use of the Federal
Low Income Housing Tax Credit program and partnering
with Great Valley Savings Bank (d.b.a. Fulton Bank),
Phoebe was able to attract an investment of $1.8 million
into the community.
1999
- Phoebe completed the historic renovation of the former
Wyomissing Club in downtown Reading into 58 affordable
apartments for seniors. After many failed attempts to
develop the Reading landmark by other developers over
the past 20 years, only Phoebe was able to attract $6.5
million into the community by partnering with Commonwealth
Bank and Fulton Bank. In 2001, Phoebe was commended
by the City of Reading for its rehabilitation and preservation
of the historic Wyomissing Club. The building also contains
approximately 13,000 square feet of prime commercial
space of which 6,500 is currently leased to Neighborhood
Housing Services of Reading and Liberty Financial Services.
Also in 1999, Phoebe acquired 3 affordable housing communities
from the now defunct nonprofit, Berks Housing Opportunities.
The three communities include Weidner Manor in Douglassville,
John F. Lutz Apartments in St. Lawrence (formerly the
John F. Lutz Furniture Store and Funeral Home), and
Franklin and Noble Manor in Shoemakersville (formerly
the Merrit Knitting Mill).
January
2000 - Phoebe celebrated the opening of Wind
Gap Manor, Phoebe's eighth residential apartment community
for older adults with limited incomes. With 26 one-bedroom
units, the housing facility is located in Wind Gap,
Northampton County. The large patio, wooded location
and resident lounges on each of the buildings' two floors
make Wind Gap Manor a perfect location for independent
seniors in the Slate Belt area.
July
2000 - Phoebe purchased the assets of the Zohlman
Nursing Home in Richlandtown, Bucks County. The 168-bed,
Medicare-certified skilled nursing community and dementia
unit was renamed Phoebe Richland Health Care Center.
Before its purchase by Phoebe, the Zohlman Nursing Home
had been in operation for more than 50 years. The Cottage,
an architecturally-designed and secure dementia unit
complete with an enclosed courtyard and walking paths,
is well suited for ambulatory residents.