HomeGennesse CountyBataviaBATAVIA/Crossroads House will mark 25 years of comfort care in Genesee County with an Anniversary Gala at the end of the month, the founder hopes to open a second home in the near future
BATAVIA/Crossroads House will mark 25 years of comfort care in Genesee County with an Anniversary Gala at the end of the month, the founder hopes to open a second home in the near future
Crossroads House will mark 25 years of being in the Genesee County community on Saturday January 28th at their Red-Carpet Gala at Batavia Downs/Park Place Center-Tickets are available at crossroadshouse.comA chat with Crossroads House founder Kathy Panepento on why Crossroads House is so important to the community. When the comfort care home opened in 1998 on Liberty Street in Batavia there were only 6 comfort care homes in NYS. Today there are 35. Panepento learned about the concept of comfort care in 1996 while attending a pain seminar in Rochester, NY, where the Mt. Carmel House, Isaiah House and Teresa House started the first comfort care homes. There are now 75 comfort care homes across the United States. Panepento is hoping to open a second comfort care home similar to Crossroads House in Genesee County but is in need of volunteers to make it work. She believes the local community will come together in the next 5 years to make a second comfort care home possible.
Crossroads House assisted their first resident in 1998, as a comfort care home for residents of Genesee, Wyoming, and the surrounding counties of WNY. Crossroads House cares for those who are in their last three months of life and is an alternative to a hospital or nursing home when care can no longer be provided at home.
The staff are trained volunteers that tend to the physical, emotional, spiritual, and social needs of the residents while providing 24/7 care.
Crossroads House is a nonprofit two-bed comfort care home. Residents and families are not billed for services provided.
Frank Panepento on the roof of 11 Liberty Street in Batavia, 1996, Frank worked to revamp the home inside and out, which was part of the Presbyterian Church. Crossroads House pays a $1 a month rent to the Presbyterian Church for use of the building and grounds. A Memorial Garden was recently added this past summer with the help of many volunteers and the Family of Frances Menard Bourdon who was a resident at Crossroads House until she passed away in June of 2019. Memorial Garden Tea-August 2022
Kathy and Frank Panepento providing comfort to Jim Owen who has been a resident at Crossroads House for several weeks.
Kathy Panepento standing next to the 580 names of people that Crossroads House has assisted over the past 25 years at 11 Liberty Street in Batavia, NY
Residents enjoy their families, their pets and their loved ones along with some music over the past 25 years of comfort care. (Provided photos)
First Open House (1998) that officially opened Crossroads House to the community (Provided photo)The very first resident, Jean of Corfu, NY-1998- was a mentor to Kathy Panepento (Provided photo)Mickey and Jamie Charters met as volunteers at Crossroads House and then got married. The couple designated their wedding gifts to Crossroads House and have a volunteer date night every Saturday at Crossroads House from 8-11p.m.(Provided photo and information)It takes 60 volunteers a week to operate Crossroads House, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. It costs $500 a day to keep the doors open with 15 paid staff, nurses, aids and administrators. There are a total of 90 volunteers who assist with residents, office work, the gardens and shopping to keep the kitchen stocked. (Provided photo and information)
A few photos of Crossroads House volunteers over the years
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