As Homeland Center looks toward its 160th anniversary in 2027, members of the 1867 Society of Homeland play a key role in sustaining the legacy of 18 remarkable women whose determination and tenacity launched an enduring institution.
Homeland recently hosted its annual appreciation reception for the 1867 Society members, who help strengthen Homeland’s Benevolent Care endowment, which enables Homeland to uphold its tradition of never asking a resident to leave after they have depleted their resources.
The evening unfolded in a picturesque fashion inside the aptly named Susquehanna Club, overlooking the Susquehanna River as it flowed past New Cumberland. Entertainer Ben Simcox sang familiar tunes and a few 19th-century standards.
Homeland Development Director Troy Beaver noted that the Susquehanna Club was part of a 19th-century estate belonging to the family of noted philanthropist Eliza Haldeman, Homeland’s first president and the donor of the Harrisburg parcel where Homeland still stands.
“There are so many threads in Harrisburg and the surrounding area that connect history,” said Beaver as he launched the program. “For almost 160 years, we’ve upheld the legacy of compassionate care, and the tradition continues thanks to many of you.”
The “kind and benevolent donations” of 1867 Society members ensure that Homeland “remains exactly what our founding women intended it to be – a home rooted in community, grounded in compassion, and committed to providing exceptional care,” he added. “All of us at Homeland – residents, patients, family, employees – are so grateful for your support.”
The members of the Homeland Board of Managers are leading the way in honoring their predecessors, the intrepid 18 founders. They saw a need for a safe haven for the city’s destitute Civil War widows and orphans, and then they put their considerable talents toward creating it.
That same responsiveness continues today, said Board of Managers President Nancy Hull, who shared the news of a partnership with a nonprofit career program that recently trained six people as certified nursing assistants, ready to serve as essential members of the Homeland team, providing the daily care that helps residents lead their fullest lives.
“Even as Homeland embarks on innovative programs and achieves accolades for excellence in patient care, it remains deeply connected to its roots,” Hull said. The new Founders Hall, a stunning, permanent installation at Homeland Center that recalls the vision of each founder and the history of the nine churches that backed them, provides a daily reminder of Homeland’s origins.
“From its inception after the Civil War to its role as a leading continuing care retirement community and at-home service provider, Homeland continues to uphold the values established by its 18 women founders,” Hull said.
Special events planned for the 160th anniversary include an anniversary gala honoring the founders and the women who have followed in their footsteps. A few weeks later, Homeland and Gamut Theatre Group will present “Iron Ladies,” written by Harrisburg-area playwright Cindy Dlugolecki. In another tie to local history, the play will be performed in Gamut’s production facility – originally, one of Homeland’s founding churches.
Dlugolecki, author of 22 plays, said she “fell in love with these women” when she started researching her play.
“Eliza Haldeman has become my hero,” she said. “I stand here tonight as somebody who is 76 years old, and as the play opens, that’s the age of Eliza Haldeman, and she is just beginning to think she has something that she needs to do to help these women, these widows, and these girls who are on the streets of Harrisburg with nowhere to go.”
Homeland President/CEO Barry Ramper II shared that when he arrived at Homeland, he asked that Eliza’s portrait hang behind his desk.
“There’s a determination when you look into the eyes of that portrait,” Ramper said. She and her equally determined co-founders “took something that was close to what would be deemed to be impossible and gave it light, and it has existed for 159 years.”
Homeland works today because relationships endure, he said. Donors to the 1867 Society progressed from that relationship “to have confidence in what Homeland is accomplishing, and you put action behind it. I believe those ladies in 1866 and 1867 began a tradition that, today, we must not allow ourselves to forget.’’
