St. Michael's Home

Our History & Focus

It was on May 25, 1958, a rainy Sunday afternoon, that the doors of St. Michael’s Home were officially opened. That year, May 25th also happened to be the Sunday on which the Church commemorates the memory of the “Holy Fathers” and it was no coincidence that His Eminence Archbishop Michael had come that day to dedicate a facility which would house the elderly fathers and mothers of the Greek Orthodox community. Assisted by Father Neophytos Spyros, the first President of the Board of Trustees, and Fr. Demetrios Frangos, President of the Archdiocesan District Clergy Syndesmos, His Eminence at 3:00 P.M. celebrated an Agiasmos Service, invoking the blessings of Almighty God upon this new endeavor. “We beseech You and ask You, embrace with Your all-powerful grace this institution which has been established to care for those encumbered by old age and to show love to our elderly pioneer brethren who have offered so much” (part of the prayer composed for that service).

St. Michael’s Home was conceived by His Eminence Archbishop Michael who had recognized the critical need for a facility which would care for the growing number of Greek Orthodox elderly in America. A man of spiritual depth, His Eminence was noted for his outreach to his flock and he felt a deep sense of indebtedness to the elderly who were the pioneers of the Greek-American community. It was these early immigrants who had overcome their poverty and many hardships and through their hard work and selfless dedication had established churches, parochial schools, institutions and the Archdiocese. His Eminence cognizant of the debt owed to these individuals for what they had achieved in establishing the Church in this country, deemed it a sacred responsibility to provide for these people in their “old age”. He envisioned the “Spiti to Protoporou” (Home of the Pioneer) where these pioneers would receive the spiritual and physical care they so deserved.

Responding to the vision of their shepherd, the Clergy Syndesmos of the First Archdicesan District voted on January 10, 1957 to spearhead the establishment of this institution.

Having secured the necessary legal status and certification, a committee now began a search to locate an appropriate site to house this philanthropic institution of the Archdiocese. Within a short period of time, they selected a building located in a bucolic suburb of New York City. It had housed a B’nai Brith nursing home which was being relocated to a larger facility. Negotiations were undertaken and on July 17, 1957, the site was purchased for $125,000. A down payment was made and a mortgage was secured for $100,000. In an issue of the National Herald, the purchase was announced to the “Omogenia” and in the words of Fr. Poulos, “a simple hope now becomes a full reality”. (It must be noted at this junction that no other person has maintained a central role in the life of the Home as has Fr. John. From the days of its inception when he was instrumental in mobilizing the clergy to spearhead the establishment of the facility, to the obtaining of the first major gift from Mrs. Cosmetos, to the recent securing of a bequest of close to million dollars which helped complete the renovation and expansion project, Father served with distinction and was a member of the Board of Trustees until 1997.)

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