New Benincasa Scholarship supports nursing, social work, and gerontology students
A local end-of-life care home that closed will live on by supporting Nazareth University students interested in careers caring for elderly adults, including end-of-life care.
Benincasa — which means a good or welcoming home — closed in 2022 after welcoming over 475 residents and their families to its two-bedroom farmhouse in Mendon for comfort care. “The day we made the decision, there were a lot of tears,” said Stephen LaSalle II, a Benincasa board member. But, the home’s leaders assessed and decided: “We can ease the pain by doing something that carries on the spirit.”
Benincasa’s board gave $450,000 to create the endowed Benincasa Scholarship at Nazareth for full-time Nazareth juniors or seniors with financial needs who are majoring in nursing or social work, especially those with a minor in gerontology, and who want to work with elders, including at the end of life.
Benincasa was founded by Gary and Beverly Clark, who engaged parishioners from three churches in Mendon, to bring their dream to reality. It operated for 26 years with a small paid staff, a team of volunteers, and financial donations, until the pandemic caused its closure and canceled fundraising events. Those disruptions, alongside health system funding changes and especially the increasing difficulty of hiring nurses, left it challenged to re-open and made it unsustainable for the future. Its board of directors pivoted to use the remaining funds, including proceeds from the sale of the home, to support educating people to work with older adults.
“These dollars will create new professionals that we hope help alleviate the problem that caused us to close,” says LaSalle, a Benincasa board member.
Mary Maher, director of the nursing and public health programs at Nazareth, said Nazareth students will proudly carry the spirit forward. “Our culture of caring is to reach the needs of particular populations and do it with a depth and authenticity that isn’t always found,” she said. She added that senior nursing students now take a certification course in end-of-life nursing care.
Nazareth President Beth Paul accepted the gift with gratitude, noting that caring for older adults is a major focus of Nazareth’s interprofessional health and human services programs, with roots in partnership with Benincasa. Benincasa has long been a partner in the experiential learning that’s an integral part of a Nazareth education.
Ties between Benincasa and Nazareth run deep. LaSalle ‘83 (management science) and his wife, Lori LaSalle ‘83, ‘87G (speech-language pathology) — the longtime executive director of Benincasa — are Naz alumni.
His parents, Stephen and Lucille LaSalle, helped found Benincasa. The elder Stephen LaSalle served as vice president for finance and treasurer at Nazareth for more than three decades. He also contributed his financial skills to Benincasa as a board member until his death in 2021.
The younger LaSalle’s siblings — also Naz alumni — have run an annual golf tournament that supported Benincasa and now will add to the Benincasa Scholarship fund.
Nazareth’s long-time Math Department chair Nelson Rich spent his final days at Benincasa in 2003, and his wife, Kristen Waterstram-Rich, became a Benincasa board member shortly afterward.
Lori LaSalle, who started as Benincasa’s first house manager, welcomed nursing students at Benincasa — including those from Nazareth — for practicums to gain experience.
When someone is dying, caregivers have the opportunity to slow down, she said, in contrast to the hustle and bustle of typical medical care. “If you just slow down and listen and have a heart and grace, that’s all people want and need,” she said.
“I hope anyone who gets the scholarship will impart some of that,” she added. The end of life can be a “daunting, sad, scary time. We just need to hold someone’s hand and guide them through it. I hope they will learn to give that gentle guidance.”
Reaction to the scholarship as Benincasa’s next chapter has been so positive, she said. “This was a way for the mission to continue on, albeit in a different way, but in a way that anybody who passed through the doors would have loved and appreciated."
For More Information
Julie Long | Senior News & PR Officer | jlong2@naz.edu | (585) 389-2456 | (585) 781-8186 (cell)
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Left to right: Benincasa board members Stephen LaSalle II and Joseph Schmitt, Nazareth University President Beth Paul, Benincasa board members James Shoots and Kristen Waterstram-Rich, at a November gathering on campus to finalize the Benincasa Scholarship.