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Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Ringgold County group home celebrates 25th year
Top: Group home residents and their house parents are (front, L-R) Danny REYNOLDS*, Sharon
LESAN*, Joan BICKEL*, Ralph HAMPTON* and Alan FARCE;
(back, L-R) Joan ROUTH*, houseparents Jack and Nancy BAKER, Joe
HALEY and Linda JACKSON.
Residents marked with * have lived in the home since it opened 25 years ago.
(Below)
Community leaders guide the operation of the group home: (front, L-R) Faye HOWIE, Lizzie HANAWALT, Jeanette LUTRICK, Judy
HENSLEY, Bessie PARKER and Marie STILL;
(back, L-R) Royce DREDGE, David RICHARDS, Jim ROUTH and Fred SHIELDS.
HOWIE, ROUTH, DREDGE, HANAWALT, LUTRICK and HENSLEY serve on the board; PARKER and STILL serve on the care review
committee; RICHARDS is the bookkeeper and SHEILDS serves as home administrator.
The Ringgold County Group Home celebrated its 25th anniversary Sunday with an open house. Approximately 50-60 visitors
were served a supper meal and given the opportunity to tour the facility and to visit with residents.
The group home is a non-profit housing and care facility for mentally and physically challenged adults. The goal is to
help residents maintain their home in the facility until such time they need more specialized nursing care. "They are a
family," said board member Judy HENSLEY. "They're like brothers and sisters. As in a regular home, residents have daily
chores, they clean their rooms on Saturday mornings and they attend church services most Sunday mornings. They also try to
attend most community events." Residents also travel to Ringgold County Supportive Services for daily activities outside
the home. The home is currently at full capacity with eight residents, five of whom have lived in the home for its entire
25 years of existence. HENSLEY said the Ringgold county facility is the only one of its type in Iowa. Other group homes
house between two and five residents and have care providers who work eight-hour shifts. In contrast, the Ringgold county
home is supervised by house parents who reside in the home for one week at a time. HENSLEY said this arrangement more
closely resembles a regular two-parent family arrangement and provides more stability for the residents. HENSLEY added
that the board is still seeking a second set of house parents to complement current house parents Jack and Nancy BAKER.
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, October of 2012
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