Why I Give - Donor Testimonials

Joe and Cindy Maurer were both brought up in families that put a premium on faith, education and a strong work ethic. Those qualities have driven them their entire lives and continue to guide them in their work in the community and their commitment to charitable giving.

Joe first learned about Regina Health Center (RHC) in 2009, when he was searching for a Catholic-based nursing home for his mother. He met with Sister Margaret Taylor, SIW, and learned about Regina Health Center’s mission of providing compassionate care in a faith-based environment.

After his mother moved in, Joe quickly became involved with supporting RHC. As an avid golfer, he was a natural fit with the Holy-In-One Golf Outing. When asked about being a sponsor for the golf outing, he didn’t hesitate to say yes. He and Cindy have been involved with RHC ever since. Joe serves as the chair of the RHC finance committee. In the community, Joe and Cindy are active parishioners at St. Basil the Great Catholic Church in Brecksville.

Education—and ongoing education—has long been important to both Cindy and Joe. Cindy graduated from Beaumont School in Cleveland Heights and Joe from St. Peter Chanel Catholic High School in Bedford. Cindy went on to receive a mathematics degree from the University of Arizona and spent most of her career at Eaton Corporation as a lead programmer and systems analyst.

Joe graduated from John Carroll University with an accounting degree and then earned a Master of Business Administration degree in finance and organizational behavior from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. As a Certified Public Accountant, Joe served as the chief operating officer of FISERV Cleveland, which was one of the first companies to provide online real time data processing to banks and savings and loans. After leaving FISERV, Joe started Maurer & Associates, Inc., a financial planning and tax consulting firm.

Encouraging Employee Advancement

As part of their commitment to education, Joe and Cindy established a fund for employee recognition and advancement to encourage employees to stay and grow with RHC.

“My favorite way to donate is to encourage employees to do their best. This is the reason for the Regina Health Center Employee of the Month award program. In many businesses and health care settings, I see employees not being appreciated as much as they should be. We both believe in solid career paths for all deserving employees,” said Joe.

Joe and Cindy started donating to the employee of the month and year in 2019. They help the annual employees of the month recognition ceremony become more special by making a $250 gift to each employee who was named an employee of the month that year. They also give an extra $250 to whoever is named the employee of the year.

In addition, Joe and Cindy have started Maurer’s Lucky Stars program, which provides employees in good standing who demonstrate exceptional care the opportunity to win additional monetary prizes throughout the calendar year.

In a video played at a luncheon addressing RHC employees, Cindy added, “Joe and I are very fortunate and grateful to be able to donate to the Employee Recognition program. We believe you make the difference. We want you to understand that our residents need your dedication to help them through their personal life’s journey.”

Longtime Donor Pamela Erb-Melville Turns to Facebook to Multiply Her Impact for Regina Health Center

The motto “in all things charity” guides the mission of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine. The same motto has also helped guide one of Regina Health Center’s most active donors, Pamela Erb-Melville.

Pam’s connection to Regina Health Center began with her sister Polly—better known now as the late Sister Miriam Erb, CSA. Polly took their mother’s name Miriam when she became a novice and received into the community of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine in 1958.

“Sr. Miriam has been the special, loving and caring glue of our family. I learned from her to consider the more charitable way to think about, react to or even be in many of the ordinary activities of life,” said Pam.

Pam was introduced to Mt. Augustine (the congregation’s motherhouse) in 1957 at the age of 6 when she would come there to see her sister on visiting Sundays. That was the same year that Polly graduated from St. Augustine Academy and went to the convent. After receiving a Master of Arts degree in Speech/Theatre from Bowling Green State University, Pam moved to New York City to pursue acting, where she had a successful career. She toured with the National Shakespeare Company, performed off-Broadway and in soap operas, and was seen and heard in TV and radio commercials. Today, she is the president of P-E-M Communications, which trains and coaches employees in business communication skills.

As plans were being developed in the early 1990s to convert part of Mt. Augustine into Regina Health Center, Sr. Miriam provided Pam with an inside view of the transformation and then the newly opened ministry whenever she was in town from New York City. Sr. Miriam was part of the leadership team in the early planning of Regina Health Center.

“I had many a meal in the dining room with the residents and celebrated some wonderful services in the chapel at holiday time. Regina Health Center, the building and the grounds, became familiar all over again,” said Pam. “This was a different relationship and feeling than when I would visit Polly in the novitiate so many years ago.”

Pam began making monthly donations to Regina Health Center many years ago. As a fan of yoga and the “body, brain and spiritual connection to God that can be explored during yoga,” she supported a chair yoga activity for several years. More recently, Pam said she was intrigued by the opportunity offered by holding a Facebook fundraiser. She has created a “Pam’s birthday fundraiser” on Facebook for the past two years, requesting donations from friends prior to her birthday.

“If they knew me, they knew the story of my sister Polly, aka Sr. Miriam. They knew how important she has been to me throughout the many stages of my life in New York City, my careers, my marriage. I set the goal at $2,500, which seemed substantial. I prayed I would meet it and thankfully have surpassed my goal both years,” said Pam. “They have not just honored my birthday. They knew firsthand about the kind, loving and charitable person Polly is. They used this fundraiser for Regina Health Center in the honor of Sr. Miriam to acknowledge Polly and all she means to them. I have been deeply grateful and moved.”

Pam said she is happy to do her part to help the mission of Regina Health Center in providing compassionate health care. “As I age and look to what the future holds, I am at peace knowing that I have contributed, in a small way, to a safe, loving transitional home that feeds the body, mind and soul of so many special people.”

She added, “Thank you, Polly, for your love and leadership and for just being my sister.”

The Ann T. Kadzielski Memorial Fund has been helping Regina Health Center’s frontline health care professionals advance their skills and careers through continuing education for 20 years. Mark Kadzielski and his sister Lucia (who passed away in 2019) established the fund after their mother Ann passed away in 2000. Ann was a resident at Regina Health Center (RHC). Mark said he and his sister really appreciated the quality and compassion of the staff and how they took care of his mother.

“Our intention has always been to have a lasting fund in the memory of our mother that invests in quality staff, which Regina has, and directing the funds for education and skill development,” said Mark.

Director of Nursing Natalie Kennedy, BSN, RN, is one of those frontline professionals who benefited from the generosity of the Ann T. Kadzielski Memorial Fund. Natalie has worked at Regina Health Center since 2012. She started as a float nurse before being promoted to care coordinator, weekend supervisor, assistant director of nursing and now, director of nursing.

Natalie’s mother was a nurse, which inspired her to become a licensed practical nurse (LPN) after her two children went to elementary school. She said heartfelt conversations with her mother guided her dream to first receive her LPN and then work on becoming a registered nurse (RN) before finally earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). The memorial fund helped make that dream become a reality.

Natalie enrolled in the University of Akron LPN to BSN program and earned her bachelor’s degree in 2023. The fund covered the cost of tuition, books and medical supplies, as well as contributed to commuting expenses due to living off campus.

“I am very appreciative to Mr. Kadzielski and Regina Health Center for the nursing education financial support. I hope to stay here for the duration of my nursing career,” said Natalie. “The spirituality of the residents and staff provide a peaceful, relaxing and welcoming work environment. It is truly a family feeling.”

Attracting and retaining talented nurses and other caregivers has become more challenging. Being able to offer opportunities for advancing education is an important recruitment and retention tool.

“The Ann T. Kadzielski Memorial Fund is helping us invest in our employees by helping them expand their skills through continuing education,” said Mark Yantek, executive director, Regina Health Center. “Not only does providing education money to frontline health professionals expand their skills, it’s one more incentive for our staff to stay here because they know we’re willing to invest in helping them grow.”

Although he lives in California, Mark continues to make donations to the fund he and his sister started in 2000 to keep expanding its impact on RHC’s frontline workers. Mark grew up on Cleveland’s West Side and graduated from St. Ignatius High School and then John Carroll University. He attended Penn Law School and earned his law degree in 1976.

Preferring warmer climates, he headed to California, passed the bar exam and joined a health care law firm at a time when that legal specialty was in its infancy. His specialty is in regulatory and operational guidance and representation to hospitals, medical staffs, managed care enterprises, and institutional and individual health care providers throughout the United States.

“Sharing the career success of Natalie at this time is a perfect way to express our gratitude and support of the mission and the work Regina Health Center does. It is a wonderful facility,” said Mark Kadzielski.

As part of the 25th anniversary events in 2018, a $1 Million Matching Gift Initiative for the 25th Anniversary Renovation Campaign was launched to inspire others to join in the efforts to raise a total of $2.5 million in philanthropic support. The Matching Gift Initiative offered donors a dollar-for-dollar match up to $1 million for all new gift commitments to the campaign.

Having learned that RHC had started to secure gifts for the Matching Gift Initiative, longtime supporters Katie and Bud Koch decided to make a historic $500,000 gift commitment, which made them the most generous individual donors in RHC history (as opposed to an estate or organization).

Bud said, “We know how important this renovation is and we wanted to give the renovation a boost to encourage others to make a gift.” Katie added, “We wanted to do more for the mission of caring for these wonderful residents who have spent their lives taking care of others.”

Katie and Bud began supporting RHC more than 25 years ago when they heard about the Holy-In-One Golf Outing. Bud, an avid golfer, thought the outing was a great opportunity to support a worthy charity and meet others with the same interests. Katie became more involved when RHC started doing home tours in the Glencairn neighborhood in Richfield. Katie and Bud, along with several residents of the area, opened their homes for a special fundraising tour to benefit RHC. Katie participated on the House Tour Committee and later chaired the committee.

The Kochs have been very charitable with annual gifts to RHC, and Katie is on the RHC Board of Directors and has served on several committees. She and Bud are also involved with the annual Holy-In-One Golf Outing and were both instrumental in completing the developmental study, which led to the facility update plan.

Executive Director Mark Yantek said, “We are fortunate to have great supporters at RHC. Bud and Katie exemplify the many who believe in this ministry of caring for the aging religious, clergy and laity. Words cannot describe how elated we all are to have such wonderful friends as Bud and Katie to lead the charge in this most meaningful way. We are truly grateful.”

Dr. Elizabeth Macintyre and her husband Dr. Joseph A. Sopko are no strangers to the ministries of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine (CSA). Dr. Macintyre provided care as a gastroenterologist for St. Vincent Charity Medical Center from 1979 until her retirement in 2015. Dr. Sopko was the chief medical officer at St. Vincent Charity. They both loved working for the sisters and the Sisters of Charity Health System, which is the parent corporation for the sponsored ministries of CSA and includes Regina Health Center and various other outreach ministries in Ohio and South Carolina.

The years practicing at St. Vincent Charity were very formative for Dr. Macintyre both professionally and personally. Caregivers, from colleagues to nurses and health professionals to housekeepers, were consistently kind, thoughtful and respectful. It was at St. Vincent Charity in the persons of CSA sisters Sister Mercia Beever and Sister Carole DeCrane that she became aware of the power of pastoral care. Patients that the sisters visited were supported emotionally and spiritually, a support that enabled them to endure difficult, frightening issues.

“Watching the two of them, taught me the power of faith in action, and started me on my road to conversion to Catholicism,” said Dr. Macintyre.

To commemorate Sr. Mercia and Sr. Carole, and all of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, Drs. Macintyre and Sopko decided to make a transformational gift to Regina Health Center (RHC). They chose RHC because they believe in the mission of compassion and care for elderly vowed religious, clergy and lay family members.

Dr. Macintyre tells the story of her husband’s father, Joe, who was a resident at RHC several years ago. Joe, critically ill, was admitted to St. Vincent Charity. While he was there, and Dr. Macintyre was on duty at the hospital, she received a page that she had an important phone call. She took the call. That call was from the Polish housekeepers at RHC who wanted to know how Joe was doing and to ask when he could come home. Joe was also Polish, and the housekeepers looked forward to visiting with him and having conversations with him in their language. Dr. Macintyre said, “The care at Regina Health Center is so special. They actually called to ask when he could come home! This is where I want to come when I need care.”

Drs. Macintyre and Sopko made the first of several six-figure gifts that began Regina Health Center’s 25th Anniversary Renovation Project. With their gift and five others, a $1 million matching gift initiative was created to inspire others to also take part in the renovation.

“This initiative played a huge part in helping to get toward our goal of $2.5 million, the total cost for the renovation,” said Maureen O’Neill Laszlo, director of mission support and donor relations. “We are so grateful and in awe of the outpouring of support for this project.”

The doctors are taking advantage of the new naming opportunities at RHC. They wish to dedicate a plaque outside the chapel on the third floor assisted living area so that Sr. Mercia and Sr. Carole will always be remembered for the tireless, compassionate care they provided for many sick and dying patients and their families.

In addition to the doctors’ gift for the renovation, Dr. Macintyre made a significant will provision to benefit RHC. Her legacy gift is one of the strongest messages a donor can send. It shows how important this ministry is to her and her family. RHC will continue to receive loving support long after her lifetime. With her legacy gift, she is welcomed into the Regina Society, which recognizes individuals who establish legacy gifts.

Gifts received from will bequests and other forms of legacy gifts can be designated for the general operating fund or the Regina Health Center endowment to provide for future sustainability, or for other purposes to support the ministry.

“My gift is not only in recognition of the extraordinary Sisters Mercia and Carole, but in appreciation for all the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, who throughout my practice at St. Vincent enriched my practice and my life,” said Dr. Macintyre.

Regina Health Center and the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine recognize Dr. Macintyre and Dr. Sopko for their extraordinary years of support as physicians, leaders and tremendous supporters of the ministries of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine. Like Sisters Mercia and Carole, they are a dynamic duo.

Tom & Gwen Seeman Make Donations Directly from IRA and Establish Charitable Gift Annuity to Save on Taxes and Earn Income

For his entire life, the late Tom Seeman had a connection to the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine. His aunt, Sister Margaret Mary Pero, CSA, was a member of the congregation. He remembers seeing her at family events when he was younger. When she moved to Columbia, South Carolina, to work at Providence Hospital, the Seeman family spent one summer vacation vising her, even staying in a hospitality cottage provided by the Sisters.

“The Sisters brought our meals to us and acted as guides as the family toured the attractions surrounding Columbia. Their hospitality was fantastic, and it was one of the best summer vacations of my youth,” said Tom, who was interviewed prior to his passing.

Sr. Margaret Mary moved back to Northeast Ohio after her time in Columbia to be the director of practical nursing at Timken Mercy Hospital in Canton (now Mercy Medical Center). Tom and his family continued to visit Sr. Margaret Mary in Canton. Years later, she moved to the Mt. Augustine Motherhouse, which also houses Regina Health Center (RHC). After Sr. Margaret Mary passed away, Tom and his wife Gwen made a donation to RHC. Gwen was invited to tour RHC and was very impressed with what she saw.

They decided they wanted to do more to help. Once they started taking minimum required distributions from an IRA, they began to donate directly to Regina Health Center through a qualified charitable distribution, which can lower adjusted gross income. “We wanted to give to a worthy ministry while also lowering our income taxes,” said Tom. “We fully support Regina Health Center in providing housing and health care for the retired clergy and religious sisters of the diocese. These individuals labored tirelessly to do God’s work with faith that God would take care of them as they aged. Everything about Regina Health Center is first class.”

Tom and Gwen decided to take their giving to an even higher level through a charitable gift annuity—while also receiving a financial return and becoming members of the Regina Society. Membership in the Regina Society is open to individuals and couples who make a planned gift to Regina Health Center, bequest in their will or a gift of more than $10,000 (over their lifetime or one-time gift).

“Gwen and I waited to purchase a charitable gift annuity until we felt the rate of return was much better than we could get elsewhere with the same level of security. In our case, it makes great financial sense. The fact that it is a donation to one of our favorite charities is just a bonus,” he said.

Brosnan-Barrett Endowment Established to Further RHC’s Charitable Works

Before Margaret Anne Brosnan passed away in late 2010, she had the foresight and philanthropic spirit to meet with her attorney and other advisors to establish her estate plan. Her plan included the distribution of gifts to various charities upon her death that would benefit beyond her lifetime.

Anne had been a dear friend to many at Regina Health Center (RHC), especially Sr. Catherine Browning. She designated RHC as one of the beneficiaries of her estate. Specifically, she requested that RHC establish an endowment called the Brosnan-Barrett Endowment to be used to further the unique Christian charitable works of the care of the aged, sick and infirm brothers, sisters, priests and others who receive care at RHC.

“Anne’s final request perfectly fit the primary mission of RHC. We were so fortunate to be included in her will and were grateful to accept her gift, which will make a lasting impact on RHC and the care we provide residents,” said RHC Development Director Maureen O’Neill-Laszlo.

The trustee of Anne’s estate, Patricia Mascolo, said that Anne knew what she wanted to support and took great strides to ensure that her final wishes were carried out with care. “She included a provision in her estate documents that the established endowment would be a reminder to others to pray for her father, Patrick J. Brosnan, mother, Mary Barrett Brosnan and Margaret Anne Barrett Brosnan,” said Patricia.