A Doctor’s Good Care Continues In New Ways, in a New Century

In 1876, Dr. Seth Smith, a New London physician and pharmacist known for his caring ways, included in his will a provision to establish a home for “aged, respectable, indigent women who are or have been residents of New London.” Today, his vision and his caring spirit are still at work through the Smith Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation.

      The Smith Memorial Home opened in the 1880’s, first occupying a building where the New London Post Office now stands. In the 1930’s, the Home moved into a stately new brick building at the corner of Williams and Vauxhall Streets.

      At first, residents turned over all of their assets to the Home; later, they paid—if they could—prescribed fees. Once the arrangements were made, the women planned to live out their lives with dignity in comfortable surroundings.

      But eventually, explains Joseph Cipparone, attorney first for the Smith Memorial Home and then for the Smith Memorial Fund, “The promise to care for the women for life became impossible to fulfill.” The Home did not offer skilled nursing care so when a resident needed such care, the Home had to move her to a nursing home. The cost of nursing home care depleted the Home’s endowment.

As operating funds dwindled, the labor, maintenance and insurance costs of operating the Home (with more than 20 bedrooms) were rising. Moreover, the Home had trouble attracting residents because the advent of social security encouraged elderly women to stay at home instead of residing in a home for the aged.

In 1990, the Connecticut Superior Court approved selling the Home, liquidating its furnishings, and using the proceeds to establish a trust fund to aid elderly women. The Child & Family Agency purchased the building for what now is the home of The New London Day Nursery. The Smith Memorial Fund announced the creation of its charitable endowment and began receiving grant proposals, reviewing them, and distributing funds to charitable organizations that assist older women.

In 2005, the Board of the Smith Memorial Fund met with Alice Fitzpatrick of the Community Foundation to discuss how the Community Foundation might assist the Fund in furthering its mission. The Board found that the Community Foundation could help the Fund:

• Make wiser grants by utilizing the expertise of its staff, processing grant applications efficiently, and reviewing the effectiveness of grants.
• Provide greater exposure in the community for the Smith Memorial Fund by becoming part of the successful Women and Girls Fund initiative at the Foundation.
• Increase its endowment through gifts from donors designating the Smith Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation.
• Increase its endowment through the professional management of its funds by the Investment Committee of the Foundation and its investment manager, Frank Russell Trust Company.

“It was an ‘Aha!’ moment,’” says Jean Caron, when she saw clearly how helpful it would be to place the Smith Fund under the Women & Girls initiative and urged that the process be carried out. Caron, who serves on the Smith board and who helped launch Woman & Girls, notes that volunteers in non-profit organizations “often have opportunities like this.” With their involvement and experience, they can recognize and promote new ways for their organizations “to expand their universe.”

In 2006, the Board voted unanimously to create a component fund at the Community Foundation. The Smith Memorial Fund had to return to Superior Court to obtain judicial approval to join the Community Foundation. The Foundation—with its long experience in Southeastern Connecticut, its awareness of area problems, and its knowledge of area organizations—can now help direct Smith Fund distributions most effectively.

Placed in the Foundation’s Women & Girls Fund, the Smith Memorial Fund put Women & Girls over the $2 million mark. In 2006, the Smith Memorial Fund distributed over $37,000 to seven organizations and agencies aiding elderly women in New London County. They helped to support a literacy program for immigrant women, meals and information for elderly Latino women, a fitness and nutrition program in senior housing, educational programs at the New London Senior Center, and meals, equipment, skilled nursing and support to elderly women living at home.

Dr. Smith could not have envisioned such ways of administering his legacy, but they are  entirely in keeping with what he intended. In years to come, the Smith Memorial Fund will continue to support older women in New London County— to do what Dr. Smith would have wanted, perhaps in brand-new ways.