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A Letter from Rich: Your Support Can Make a Difference Today

September 2026

Dear family and friends of Vassar-Warner Home,

I want to take just a few minutes out of your busy day to update you on our progress to reestablish Vassar-Warner Home as the premier not-for-profit, self-sustaining, senior living facility in Dutchess County.

As you are well aware, in 2024 it was announced that the home would close due to unresolved financial shortfalls. Tragically, that fate came to pass in December that year, causing every resident to leave their beloved home for something less. Despite all efforts by the determined group of friends and family to reverse course, there wasn’t enough time to figure it all out and make it work.

But they didn’t give up trying to figure out how this 154-year-old institution could live to serve another day. The path to sustainability began to emerge after hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of research, meetings with governmental and private agencies, and donors. In June of 2025, we announced the opening of our “Home for the Day”, senior daycare program to finally begin to bring in a small amount of revenue. A simple, flexible program where families could bring their loved ones every day, or just a few hours now and then, but having smiling seniors back in the building was like the sun coming up on Vassar Warner. That truly was a great day!

Just before that time, we tried to take out a loan against the building to pay off some mounting debt, refurbish and renovate parts of the building, and to give us a little working capital. But, being a non-profit without any revenue, that proved to be even more difficult than expected for various reasons. Not to be deterred, we pushed on and found private funding at a higher interest rate than we wanted to pay, but thought we had no choice. However, with literally only hours before we were to sign the contract, a few close friends came together to offer the same amount of money at a reduced rate, which we took.

Since that day, we have paid off most of our old debt, hired back key staff, renovated the kitchen and butler’s pantry (formerly the dishwashing room), repaired the elevator, painted much of the first floor, along with many other upgrades, and will be replacing the carpet on the second floor shortly. Why would we bother replacing the carpet on the second floor, you ask? Well, that’s because in June 2026 we had our first senior move into our new independent senior residence program, and as of today, we are scheduled to have our first floor full with eight residents by the end of the month, requiring the opening of our second floor!

Many ask how this is financially possible after not being able to make it work before; a very valid question. There is no one simple answer, but here are some of the pieces. First, we reduced every expense possible down to the bone. Most of the expenses and work that were done last year were provided by staff, board members, and a few volunteers. Our daycare program is slowly becoming a substantial source of revenue, especially since we signed a contract with the county this year to supplement some of the participants. Next, our resident program has changed by necessity. Previously, we received less revenue per resident than it cost to house and provide for them in most cases, clearly unsustainable. So, for the time being, we are fully private pay and do not accept Medicaid. At some point, we hope to reestablish our endowment fund to supplement seniors who can’t afford to live here, but that will take time.

With our new Independent Living Program, our one monthly price provides residents with a warm, comfortable room, all housekeeping and laundry services, three meals a day, daily activities, and staff oversight 24/7. While we no longer provide assisted living services, we can help coordinate them with an outside agency if that need should arise.

All of these changes allow us to provide the same warm and cozy environment that Vassar Warner always had, but now more efficiently and, most importantly, in a sustainable fashion. To be clear, we are not out of the woods yet. We still have a lot of work to do before we can relax, but we are well on our way to being in the black and able to exhale.

I admit that I had to stop several times during the writing of this letter to deal with the emotional toll this project has extracted from me. My friends have heard me say many times over the last year and a half that I didn’t think that there was anything else we could do, as my head fell into my hands in failure, only to be reignited by a phone call out of the blue from a random donor, or some other unforeseen miracle. I am convinced that God doesn’t want this place to close, so we keep fighting.

And… we are SOOO close to being back on track! We have inquiries coming in every day for both our daycare and residential programs, and we’re just about halfway to sustainability. We have a slew of volunteers that we are getting ready to bring in from many of the local churches and colleges, and we are in the process of beginning externships from both the Culinary Institute and Dutchess County Community College. Our residents are going to have the best food in the county!

But we still need a little more help. Money is still tight, and it will be several months before we are truly self-sufficient. We’ve come so far and done so much with so little, and I know that many of you were hesitant to donate your hard-earned money when our future was so uncertain. But now the light at the end of our tunnel is bright! I invite you all to see how far we’ve come and meet the people who are making it happen!

I am asking you to please consider making a donation to the Vassar-Warner Home to help us finish the work that we started. We have set an initial goal of $500,000 to secure our operating needs and help begin our new endowment fund. Since 1871, we have helped seniors and their families in their times of need with dignity. Please help us now in our time of need.

God bless you all!

Rich Schuster, Chair
Vassar-Warner Board of Trustees

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