Comprehensive Senior Living Campus Helps Low-Income Older Adults Thrive Without Leaving Home.

Developed by the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) in 2013, the community includes the Cora McCorvey Health and Wellness Center, Thomas T. Feeney Manor and two other MPHA highrises: Art Love Manor and Heritage Commons at Pond’s Edge. The health and wellness center was named for MPHA Executive Director Cora McCorvey, who served the MPHA for 25 years.

The MPHA gathered a set of unique providers to serve older adults under one roof at the health and wellness center. Residents at Thomas T. Feeney Manor have the following services right outside their doorstep:

• Alive & Kickin is a non-profit organization that features a talented ensemble of performers ranging in age from mid 60s to 90s that entertain multi-generational audiences through popular contemporary music and personal stories. The group is managed and directed by award-winning performing arts professionals.
• Augustana Open Circle offers programs, recreation, personal care and social connections to individuals with memory loss or other emotional or physical needs
• Augustana Care’s Learning Lab for Eldercare Technologies connects older Minnesotans and caregivers with home health and safety technologies that help them live independently within their chosen communities.
• Grace Home Health and Grace Hospice were launched through a partnership between Augustana Care and Mount Olivet Careview Home. Grace Hospice offers physical, emotional and spiritual care to people facing the end of life. Grace Home Health provides Medicare-certified, specialized home health care to people recently discharged from a hospital or rehabilitation.
• Minneapolis Highrise Representative Council represents public housing residents in all MPHA highrises, organizing and supporting resident councils, including Feeney Manor’s.
• The Minneapolis Public Housing Authority works to promote and deliver quality, well managed homes to a diverse low income population and with partners, contribute to the well-being of the individuals, families and community we serve.
• Northside Funders Group is a collaborative of private, public, and corporate funders aligning investments and strategies to catalyze comprehensive, sustainable change in North Minneapolis.
• NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center is a multi-specialty medical, dental and mental health center and human service agency located in North Minneapolis, working to improve the physical and socio-economic health of the North Minneapolis community through an integrated model of health and human services.
• YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities operates the fitness center and conducts exercise courses for older adults with certified trainers. The Y is available to residents on site and older adults in the community.

Augustana Care also provides assisted living and memory care services at Heritage Commons and Thomas T. Feeney Manor.

The Cora McCorvey Health and Wellness Center was created to address a pressing need in Minneapolis. Most low-income older adults in senior living communities have little hope of getting regular exercise, nutritious meals, access to on-site physicians, exercise in a therapy pool and adult day services with enriching activities. Yet, this is exactly what older adults with low incomes can find at the health and wellness center.

The first-of-its-kind community is “a shining example of how we in Minnesota have always come together to wrap our arms around the more vulnerable among us,” says Senator Amy Klobuchar. “This innovative approach to public housing can and should serve as a model for the rest of the country.”

For more information about MPHA, call the MPHA Director of Policy and Special Initiatives Bob Boyd at 612-342-1437. For specific information about Thomas T. Feeney Manor and the Cora McCorvey Health and Wellness Center, contact Evelyn LaRue, MPHA campus director, at 612-342-2210.