Through its covenant affiliation with the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, the family of nonprofit 501(c)3 Methodist Retirement Communities (MRC) have served senior adults in the Wesleyan tradition of Christian faith and wholeness beginning in 1962 on Galveston Island when the Buccaneer Hotel was gifted to the Texas Annual Conference for development as a Retirement Community.
The first MRC community was Edgewater Retirement Community in Galveston. Moody House, on the Edgewater campus, offered residential living apartments while Turner Geriatric Center provided skilled nursing & rehab, including a special certified Alzheimer’s care unit.
In 1970, MRC was invited to acquire its second campus, Crestview Retirement Community in Bryan, where the focus grew to include residential living and assisted living apartments to go with the skilled nursing & rehab. Home Health care and services were also added as was three Affordable Housing apartment buildings through HUD. Crestview is currently being redeveloped at the time of this writing.
The third campus, TownCreek Retirement Community in Huntsville, joined the family in 1985 as a skilled nursing & rehab facility (Ella Smither Geriatric Center); and we also soon thereafter began managing an Affordable Housing complex called Parkview Place Apartments. TownCreek has begun redeveloping its community at the time of this writing.
Next, MRC was invited to Lufkin to develop PineCrest Retirement Community in 1992, a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC). PineCrest has residential living patio homes, apartments, assisted living apartments, three levels of Alzheimer’s / Dementia Care (Lottie Temple Building, George Henderson Building, The Arbor), skilled nursing & rehab and home health services.
Cornerstone Retirement Community opened in 1996, and is also a CCRC with residential living patio homes, apartments, assisted living apartments, skilled nursing & rehab, home health services and a certified Alzheimer’s care assisted living called Bunch Woodview Center.
A second affordable HUD housing unit for seniors was completed in 2008 in La Porte, called Bayview Senior Apartments, joining Oakview Senior Apartments in that location. MRC also operated Happy Harbor Methodist Home, a skilled nursing & rehab community from 2002 to 2008.
Today, MRC continues its service ministry to seniors, offering life-enriching programs and services to seniors while honoring the sacredness of each individual. MRC communities focus on the whole person, from social and spiritual needs to the physical and psychological ones.