Heritage Place offers occupational, speech, and physical therapy services for its residents. Housekeeping, laundry, and even complimentary cable sevices are provided as well.
Mapleton Community Home celebrates 50th year of service
The Community Home in Mapleton was opened in 1965, making 2015 the 50th year of the
entity. In 1965, it started with 48 residents and 25 employees. There was a 17-man board of
directors who oversaw it all, as well as the planning and carrying out of construction. Those on
the board were Elliot Sellers, president; Paul Albrecht, secretary; H.W. Healy, treasurer; Charles
Cramer, Joseph Dobie, James Howieson, Wilfred Kaul, Alfred Hoechst, Robert King, Marvin
Kliewer, Jerry Kunkel, John Landsteiner, Claude Marble, John Pfeffer, Arno Proehl, Floyd Runke
and J. Cecil Zoch.
When the home was built, a spokesman for the directors said, “We want the people of the
community to see and inspect the new home, because it is their project. It wouldn’t have been
made possible without the approval and support of our community’s citizens. The board has kept
that fact in mind through three years of planning and building. We want these folks, whose home
it is by right of their support and interest, to see what has been accomplished for them.” (Taken
from the Feb. 4, 1965 edition of the Blue Earth County Enterprise.)
Now in 2015, Executive Director RoxAnne Gosson oversees everything at the home. There is
also a nine-member board and the home now has 80 residents, with about 110 employees.
Gosson has been the administrator – with her title recently switching over to Executive Director –
for six years. She said, “There’s a lot of confusion with ownership now. People don’t believe that
we don’t have an owner. The community members that had donated bonds sold them back to
the entity, so no one owns it. It is its own entity or corporation.”
Continuing on, Gosson commented, “When I started, it took three years to plan and gain
support to build Heritage Place, which is the assisted living part of the home. We’re one of the
very few ‘stand-alone’ facilities left in Minnesota – that means that you don’t have a corporate
entity to support you. The federal government sets our rates for the nursing home. That’s why so
many stand-alones don’t make it. We lose a big chunk of money every day on our medical
assistance. We went six years without increasing our rates.”
As for changes that have taken place over the past 50 years, Gosson said, “A lot has changed.
We’re a lot more regulated. Our income is barely paying for the services we need to give out.”
The home also brought in a new therapy company, called Aegis. According to Gosson, it is a
dynamic company, which services more people in the community, earning a great reputation in
town. “Even kids from Maple River High School come to get help with injuries, instead of having
to travel to Mankato,” she noted.
Gosson added, “We’re also slowly revitalizing our building – painting residents’ rooms, fixing
the floors, mechanical pieces in the building, as well as programs within the building. We’re trying
to make our building livable for generations to come.”
Mapleton Community Home plans to hold a special celebration for their 50th anniversary
sometime this year.