Major Gift For Glen Haven Village Project

The capital campaign for the proposed Glen Haven Village skilled nursing care facility is kicking off in a big way, thanks to a $500,000 matching gift pledge from 1962 Glenwood High School graduate Rod Rhoden.

The gift was formally announced late last week by the Rod Rhoden Foundation with the stipulation that matching funds be raised for the project by Oct. 1.

“The $500,000 matching gift from the Rod Rhoden Foundation is a tremendous boost as we start the capital campaign for Glen Haven Village,” said Larry Raabe, a member of the Glen Haven Board of Directors.  “This is a great incentive for community members to leverage their contributions with a dollar-for-dollar match.”

The Glen Haven Village proposal calls for the 52-year-old Glen Haven Home at 302 Sixth St. to be replaced by a modern skilled care complex on the campus of the Glenwood Resource Center. The new facility will be built among a cluster of  seven renovated cottages at the GRC where residents will receive skilled and rehabilitative care in a homelike setting.

The $3 million facility will be capable of housing 75-80 residents.

“Instead of having an institutionalized building, you have homes or cottages that will handle 12-14 residents,” Glen Haven Village proponent Phil Warren said. “It’s a relatively new concept in skilled care. There’s one in Lincoln (Neb.), but there are none in Iowa. It’s truly a homelike environment. It will be great for Glenwood and great for the state of Iowa.”
The “village” or “green house” concept allows residents to receive the care they require while living in a non-institutionalized setting. Residents will have private bedrooms and private bathrooms.

Glen Haven was established as a community care facility and will continue to accept both private pay and Medicaid-supported residents.

Rhoden, who left Glenwood at the age of 18, has owned an automobile business since 1971. His firm, Motors Management, has four dealerships in Omaha and Lincoln, Neb. A fifth dealership, Rhoden Auto Center of Council Bluffs, was sold earlier this year.

Despite moving away from Glenwood more than 50 years ago, Rhoden has maintained ties with his hometown. His parents, former Mills County Sheriff Don Rhoden and wife Muriel, resided in Glenwood until their deaths. Muriel Rhoden died in August 2014 at the age of 96.

“I realized there wasn’t a lot of alternatives in Glenwood for my mother,” Rhoden said. “My mother was never there (Glen Haven) but because of her condition, I was aware of the situation with the facility. I’ve been relatively close to the community off and on. I was aware of the age of the current building and I’ve  had various conversations with various people about the facility since Phil (Warren) first brought this project to my attention several months ago.

“I wanted to do something for Glenwood and of the things I’ve looked at, this project just seemed to make about as much sense as anything I’ve seen so far. Everybody down there (in Glenwood) has a friend, parent or relative that has been there or will need to go there. This project will take the facility to the next caliber.”

Glen Haven directors have negotiated for a long-term lease (50 years) of the cottages with the Iowa Department of Human Services.

Any person, business or organization interested in making a contribution or pledge to the project can obtain additional  information at Glen Haven Home or online at www.glenhavenvillage.com.