I am here at Holy Cross Village at Notre Dame with Brandon and Kelly.

Brandon is the president of the organization and Kelly is the director of marketing.

And we're standing right now in one of the units, of their expansion that's coming up, which we're going to talk a little bit about.

And thank you so much.

I would actually love to live in here.

This is pretty beautiful in here right now.

Yeah.

I just don't think you're old enough.

So what do I have to be?

55 or 62 and older?

I was 62 and older.

Okay.

And I know that on February 24th, you have an official launch coming up about your expansion, which we will talk about as well.

But for anyone who doesn't understand, can you give me a brief overview of what Holy Cross Village is here?

Because, you know, many people probably pass by on 933, but I've never come in.

Well, yeah, I imagine that anybody who's from South Bend, Indiana, is driven by us a thousand times and never even knew we were here.

But Holy Cross Village, we are, about 300 residents, and we serve folks 62 and older here in the community in what we call a continuum care retirement community.

So we serve folks from independent living, assisted living, and all the way through skilled nursing and and whatever level of care that they might need.

And what about the history of here?

You know, because I know that.

Is it the only one in the country that was started by the brothers?

Is that correct?

Yeah.

So we're founded by the congregation of Holy Cross, the Brothers of Holy Cross.

But the only community that we know of, nonprofit community in the country started by an order of brothers.

Okay, so the brothers came with father Soren from Vincennes, Indiana, back in the 1840s.

And that's what started the University of Notre Dame.

But they founded Holy Cross College next door, 1960s and the 1960s, at the same time founded Holy Cross Village.

Well, the start of Holy Cross village, right, Dewsbury House, which serve their aged and infirm brothers.

Yeah.

And then in the 1990s, brother William Dean had this vision for a community that could serve not just brothers, but everybody here in South Bend Michiana area.

And that's how holy Cross Village came to be.

And what you see of today.

I know when it comes to this space retirement, independent living, assisted living, it's just it seems to be one of those areas that people don't necessarily want to talk about, or it has a bit of a, you know, so I know on February 24th, you're going to have the official launch of the expansion that's happening.

And Kelly, for somebody watching who maybe they're not at the moment that they need to retire or they don't think maybe this is what they want.

What would you say to them about watching about wanting to attend on February 24th?

What's going to go on?

So I think it's just important for people to have a better understanding of senior living as a whole.

And we are having an expert, David Slack, join us.

He is an industry expert.

He has been in the senior living, industry since 1974, so has a depth of experience.

And he will help everyone better understand, the continuing care retirement community concept and some things that are specific to us as being a nonprofit community and just the benefits of being here.

So it should be very educational and help everyone at least have a better understanding of the options.

You could have just said there was light lunch as well, because that's, you know, the light lunch part gets me as well.

No, it now, but it's true.

But it's obviously a part of life where you know, the conversations hard to have.

The finances can be difficult to figure out as well.

So having people like that come in and be able to share from an independent point of view.

And then again, if people move in here, if they move in here, but if not, they can still take that information with them.

Tell me a little bit about the expansion, like the unit we're in right now.

What what is going on?

You mentioned already having 300 residents in here.

So so what's the expansion going to bring?

Yeah.

So Kelly I'll let you take that.

So we are adding on, a an independent living apartment building which is very similar to some of the options that we have here now, but just will offer some specific benefits.

And townhomes, which is a newer option to us.

And we're just really wanting to enhance the options we have for people so that there's a very diverse amount of living environments that they can consider.

And something for everyone.

There's what's the living environment here like, Brandon, I know you're the president, but it's it's you know, sometimes people think about moving into an assisted living or, or independent living as like, like why would they do that?

It's like, why wouldn't you just live with family or, you know, so what's the real benefit?

Like, what's life actually like here for us?

I mean, how special is it that we could be right here in Notre Dame, Indiana?

And what makes us unique and I think different than anywhere else in the country is that Notre Dame, Indiana, typically you have to be a student or a member of the congregation to live here.

But here we offer folks an opportunity to experience athletic program events, performances at the music, DeBartolo Music Hall, anywhere else.

And we even have a program with Holy Cross College where residents can take classes for free.

This is a great, active environment for anybody that's looking to fulfill their personal goals.

Not just in January, but for the all year long.

And so maybe there's some Notre Dame fans from across the country watching as well, you know, but it would be actually kind of cool if you're a big Notre Dame fan to retire in Notre because you are technically in Notre Dame.

Right?

This is a you got the post code or the zip code.

Sorry.

That's my Irish coming out there.

The post code.

But but again and for what about the faith aspect.

Because obviously being a Catholic organization, is that something that is it only suited to people who are Catholic to come here, or is that, you know, is it open to everyone?

Well, I'm glad you you addressed that.

So we adopted four core values from the brothers, one of them being in hospitality.

And we are in the pursuit of something called radical hospitality, which is an unconditional sense of belonging.

And how can we provide that to you and to others, no matter where you are in your spiritual journey or faith, whether you have one or not?

Yeah.

Tell us that doesn't matter, because we're Catholic.

Sure, but we want to make sure you belong and that we're hospitable in doing so the way Jesus was.

Yeah.

That's right.

Absolutely.

Kelly, I know you're a director of marketing, but I almost want to turn you into a realtor right now.

Like, can you show me around a bit?

I really you love this.

You know, this unit, it's a lot bigger than I thought it would be.

So this space is just over 1400 square feet, two bedrooms, two bathrooms.

We have a really nice, comfortable kitchen with full size appliances, which we maintain.

So that's the luxury of being here, that our maintenance team will support any issues and take care of those for everyone.

And then it does have a nice wide open living dining area.

It's beautiful to provide a good amount of space and stage it and bring your own things to make it your own.

We also have housekeepers coming in every other week.

Yeah, and vacuuming, mopping and cleaning bathrooms and changing the sheets with that service.

So okay, so February 24th, that's when you're going to be doing this launch.

One exactly what time is that happening?

When can people show up through the RSVP or how does that work so they can get on our website?

We do have the ability for them to sign up through the website.

The event itself for the launch starts at 1130, and we will provide a light lunch afterward.

And then a presentation by David Slack.

I know myself having, you know, an elderly mom and mother in law as well, that having that sense of community and other people around you that are similar and just not feeling alone is such a big thing, right?

And that's what's really offered here.

And having the socialization residents living here truly become friends and they look out for each other.

If they don't see one another, they will just let us know, maybe check on so and so because we just want to make sure they're okay.

But they definitely support one another and have experienced similar things and really rely on each other to build on strength.

Well, Kelly, thank you so much, Brandon.

Thank you as well.

So make sure you sign up.

We'll have all the details on our website as well.

Just sign up here and we'll come along to the open house on February 24th.