“Last stopping place.” That’s what a resident once told Little Sister of the Poor Mother Margaret Charles Hogarty her religious community’s initials — LSP — meant. “And it’s a good place,” he told her.

For 150 years, the Little Sisters of the Poor have indeed been the “last stopping place” for countless elderly poor in Chicago who need love and medical care in their final years.

Today, they operate two homes in the Archdiocese of Chicago — St. Mary’s Home, 2325 N. Lakewood Ave., and St. Joseph’s Home in Palatine. The homes operate independently from each other.

The Little Sisters of the Poor trace their roots back to 1839, when St. Jeanne Jugan started the community in France to care for the abandoned elderly who were poor. The first sisters arrived in America in 1868, establishing 13 homes in the first four years. Today, the sisters serve in over 30 countries.

In July 1876, at the request of Chicago coadjutor Bishop Thomas Foley, the sisters arrived and opened the doors of their first home at Halsted and Polk Streets in the city’s Little Italy neighborhood. Six sisters ministered in the first home.

The city was still rebuilding from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and the White Sox had just won the first pennant for the newly founded National League of Professional Baseball Clubs. There were many elderly women and men who needed their care.

In the 1880s, the sisters moved their home to Sheffield Avenue in Lincoln Park. In the 1970s, they had to move again because their home did not meet the city housing codes. The sisters sold that Lincoln Park building to their neighbors at DePaul University and bought the buildings where they are now, which used to belong to Alexian Brothers Hospital.

Ten sisters live and work at St. Mary’s Home today and serve the 46 residents in skilled nursing and 50 independent living apartments nearby on Racine Avenue. 

One thing that makes the Little Sisters’ home different from other skilled nursing facilities is the sense of family, which was important to Sister Jeanne Jugan, Sister Ann Margaret Donnelly said.

“She wanted to form a family. That was her key point,” Sister Ann said. “Because these people didn’t have family. They were largely destitute, abandoned, and her idea was to form a family in the image of the Holy Family. Our name is the expression of our spirit, if you will, that we want to be their little sisters.”

Part of being a family, she said, is to surround the residents with other people as well.

“To surround them with not just sisters, but with somebody that’s going to come in and do chair yoga, or somebody who’s going to be able to take them out on a bus ride or provide meal in a restaurant or something,” she said. “So they know that they’re loved, and it’s far-reaching how they’re loved. It’s like the love of the Father. It’s bigger than we can ever imagine.”

Last fall, that family teamed up to send a spiritual bouquet to Pope Leo XIV that was hand delivered to him by Augustinian Father Tom McCarthy. In it, the sisters and the residents promised to, among other things, pray 1,332 Hail Marys for the pontiff along with doing 1,182 acts of kindness and praying 720 rosaries for him.

They topped it off with a photo of the residents and the sisters in front of his childhood home in Dolton. McCarthy took a photo of Pope Leo with their card, and a copy of it is displayed prominently at the home. 

That sense of family is felt by the residents and there is a wait list to be admitted to the home.

One of their current residents, Franciscan Father Gilbert Ostdiek, taught liturgy to the future Pope Leo XIV at Catholic Theological Union and has lived at St. Mary’s Home for three years.

“I love it here,” Ostdiek said during a visit at lunchtime on July 28. “I’ve had a series of health problems, so it was time to retire.”

Gary Goad has lived at St. Mary’s for eight years and worked there for over 11 years prior to that in maintenance.

“You won’t find a better place,” he said. “The people. The atmosphere. They’re openhearted; they’re friendly. They love people.”

As part of the community’s charism, the Little Sisters beg for all their needs — from money, to food to flowers.

Sister Bernadette Spelic leads that effort and holds the title of “begging sister.”

“Medicaid only covers half of our running expenses, if that. So we balance it all out, or we try to, with the begging,” Sister Bernadette said. “So I go out every day, mostly every day. Mondays are my days off. But Tuesday we go to the International Produce Market, and they supply all of our produce and vegetables, fruits and vegetables.”

Wednesday through Friday they pick up food and flower donations from various businesses. Sister Bernadette said they always are in need of paper napkins, chicken base and wet wipes and have a wish list on their website for other items.

“We do some money begging, we call it. So that’s when we go to different businesses that can’t necessarily help us with in-kind donations. We’ll ask them for a check from their company. Sometimes they’ll give it in their name, but most of the time it’s the company that  supports us,” Sister Bernadette said.

In the past, the sisters have been invited to corporate offices where they could go around asking for donations, but that has mostly dropped off.

Begging is part of their founder’s mission, said Sister Ann, who referenced a statue of St. Jeanne Jugan outside the window of St. Mary’s Home.

“There’s a statue of our mother foundress, and in her arms is a begging basket,” she said. “And the tradition of the begging goes right back to 1839. So Sister Bernadette is on the streets like St. Jeanne Jugan was on the streets to encourage people to help care for and support the mission. Jeanne Jugan’s vision of this was much broader than going out and procuring things. It was to bring everybody into the mission that we could all take care of our brothers and sisters in Christ.”

When the residents’ time in this world is over, the Little Sisters keep vigil so no  one has to die alone.

“A Little Sister, through the vow of hospitality, has a particular grace and ability to look at a resident and say, ‘Something’s not right,’” Sister Ann said of recognizing when someone is near death.

When a resident is actively dying they are surrounded by the volunteers, staff, other residents and the sisters, who also keep vigil through the night.

“We don’t want them to die alone, but the Lord takes them when he wants,” Sister Ann said.  

Like many religious congregations today, the Little Sisters of the Poor need vocations.

“I would say our greatest poverty is our lack of vocations,” Sister Ann said. “We have been internationally combining our resources so we can reinforce what we can do well. Bottom line, the essential thing is that the Little Sisters are able to remain close to the residents, that we’re not in administrative positions, that we’re able to serve.”

Witnessing to who they are and what they do is the best way to attract new vocations, she said.

“Each Little Sister, we believe with our heart and soul that each one of these persons seated here today is the person of Jesus Christ,” she said. “You’re not going to learn about this or feel this by reading. It’s a personal experience with Jesus Christ. We believe this is God’s mission.”

For information about the Little Sisters of the Poor or to donate, visit littlesistersofthepoorchicago.org.