At Carondelet Village in St. Paul, residents are turning their attention to someone who usually greets them at the front desk. Receptionist Kjersti Duncan has stepped away from her job after receiving a leukemia diagnosis, and the people she has long welcomed into the building are now rallying to support her in return.
According to KARE 11, Duncan received the diagnosis and has since left her post at the senior living community. The station reports that residents of Carondelet Village have responded with love and support for her during this time.
A Community Responds
For many residents at Carondelet Village, Duncan's role as receptionist made her a familiar and trusted presence in their daily routines. Per the same report, that relationship is now driving residents to show up for her as she steps back from work to focus on her health.
Carondelet Village opened in November 2011 as a senior-living project offering a continuum of housing and care. A Minnesota Department of Human Services account of the project also describes partnerships intended to expand support for older adults in nearby St. Paul neighborhoods. The campus’s design reflects a broader role in the area than housing alone: the state account says it was built to foster care coordination and community connections.
Carondelet Village is a shared ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and Presbyterian Homes & Services. The community offers several kinds of senior living and care, including independent living, assisted living, long-term care and memory care—services that bring residents with different needs into one campus. The organizations describe the community as a shared ministry with that range of services.
A senior living community in St. Paul is standing behind one of its own during a difficult diagnosis.
