Provincial Motherhouse
and
Carmelite Ministry of St. Teresa

Wauwatosa, WI   

In 1912, after quickly outgrowing the first St. Joseph's Home at South Pierce Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Blessed Maria Teresa founded a home in Wauwatosa, a suburb of Milwaukee in 1916. This incredible blessing from the Divine Savior started as both the place of formation of religious sisters and a Carmelite Home for adolescent boys, also known as "the boys' home". This first American Provincial Motherhouse is still the place to form DCJ vocations into Brides of Christ in experiencing our two-fold nature of contemplative and active life in the service of God in His Church.

Today, that apostolate has changed from caring for young men to independent women with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A formation and enrichment program has also been in the works for co-ed IDD persons.

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 The Legacy at St. Joseph's

Kenosha, WI   

“One night, before the Feast of the Presentation of Mary on November 21, our dear Lady led me in a dream over fields and meadows to a grove of old trees…

On that same day, the uncle of a Milwaukee priest, visited us and offered to sell us his fruit and vegetable farm, in Kenosha. One exception was that we please take old Michael into the bargain too.

This house was made into a convent and a Chapel and Home for the Aged that housed thirty people.” (AB p295)

The 13-acre piece of farmland that Blessed Maria Teresa purchased toward the end of 1917 became the St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged.
The large basement church on our property was St. Therese’s Shrine where the origin of the St. Therese’s Parish was born and is now located a mile away!

There have been many rebuilding projects, renovations and continuous modern improvements of course since our beginnings in Kenosha. Regardless, the Carmelite spirit has remained the same: constant, strong and zealous in its service of the Church. One current example of our history's progress is our St. Joseph's Villa, a five-story apartment complex for independent senior citizens. Since 2019, we have renamed to the Legacy at St. Joseph, a community based (CBRF) assisted living facility.

God has built us up from a humble farmhouse to the blessings we have today. This power is generated not simply by the Sisters' unassuming giving of self, but even more so by their life of prayer. After years of change, the unchangeable source of strength at our Kenosha convent has been prayer. May it continue to be the cornerstone of our future.

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St. Ann's Home

Grand Rapids, MI  

In the fall of 1949, Bishop Francis J. Hass of Grand Rapids invited our Sisters to open a Home for the Aged in his diocese. Mother M. Francis accepted the invitation and her first trip to Grand Rapids to look for a suitable property was futile and returned to Wisconsin. When they returned in the early winter of 1950, the Sisters were shown a 19-family apartment building on Wealthy Street which was then purchased and renovated. They took up residence in January of 1951. Regardless of the severity of Michigan winters, they walked to the chapel of the Little Sisters of the Poor for daily Mass, or as they laughingly put it, they "slipped and slid there on the ice." The generosity of the people of Grand Rapids was overwhelming and our Sisters were deeply grateful. In the 196o's, due to the stringency of the Fire Code and the deterioration of the neighborhood, the Sisters began making plans for a new St. Ann's. They purchased a 15-acre plot of land on Leonard Street NW and groundbreaking took place on May 4, 1967. Now, for more than 50 years our home has been providing a loving and spiritual community for older residents inspired by our Carmelite foundation of fraternity, service and prayer.

Curious about the St. Ann's logo shown on our welcome sign? 

Our insignia is a statement about who we are as a company and what we represent: upholding a mission of care.

The teal blue was chosen in honor of the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary with our own take color scheme. Blue also is a sign of peacefulness, something we hope to provide for our elderly apostolate. The white line work presents St. Ann, while the darker teal lily in the background represents purity. This Madonna lily, symbolically linked to the Virgin Mary, has long been depicted in paintings of the Madonna and Child, the Annunciation, and the Resurrection. Transformed by time into a Fleur-de-lis, the more stylized image of a lily frequently adorns stained glass of churches and saints' depictions known for their purity or chastity. Our logo has become an identifying reminder to strive for daily virtuous service.

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