From a home for the aged in Manitoba in 1945, to the Mennonite Family Centre in Zaporizhzhya today

— A working timeline

1. 1928

   The Mennonite Hospital Society Concordia is founded

   The Mennonite Hospital Society Concordia establishes Concordia Hospital in response to the needs of the large group of recently arrived Mennonite immigrants to Winnipeg and surrounding areas. Seventeen years later, leaders of the Hospital Society found the Mennonite Benevolent Society.

2. 1945

   December 19 · Founding

   The Mennonite Benevolent Society is incorporated

   The Society's stated purpose is to establish “Bethania — A Home for the Aged and Infirm” (Alten und Invalidenheim Bethania). Land with existing buildings is purchased in Parkdale, on the west bank of the Red River north of Middlechurch — a strikingly beautiful setting.

   The incorporation document lists five purposes — including the wonderfully broad fifth: “for any benevolent or charitable purpose not connected with trade or commerce.”

3. 1947

   Bethania opens its doors

   The first residents arrive. It is important to the Society that as many Mennonite districts as possible are represented on the Board of Directors; districts without a board seat are urged to appoint spokespersons to keep in touch.

4. 1970

   A new Bethania opens on Concordia Avenue

   A new Bethania facility opens on Concordia Avenue in Winnipeg. Bethania Mennonite Personal Care Home is located there today, at 1045 Concordia Ave., adjacent to Concordia Hospital.

5. 1979

   Autumn House opens

   Autumn House opened at 790 Wellington Avenue.

6. 1981

   Seed money for a new school

   The Winnipeg Mennonite Elementary School was opened with seed money flowing through the Mennonite Benevolent Society.

7. 1989

   BethaniaHaus opens on Kimberly Avenue

   BethaniaHaus, built by the Bethania Group, opened at 1060 Kimberly Ave. in Winnipeg.

8. 1990

   Structural · Amalgamation

   One membership, several boards

   After years of discussion, the by-laws are amended. Concordia Hospital, Bethania, Autumn House, and the Mennonite Benevolent Society — about 400 shared members — formalize themselves as separate legal boards under one membership, covering acute care, long-term care, and seniors' housing.

9. 1999

   Feasibility studies were initiated

   Mennonite tourists travelling back to ancestral villages in southern Ukraine return with reports of seniors in deep poverty and isolation. They ask whether MBS — together with Bethania and Concordia — might develop a program to help.

10. 2002

    January · Ukraine

    The Mennonite Family Centre registers in Zaporizhzhya

    After a feasibility study, MBS supports the registration of a Ukrainian charity — the Mennonite Family Centre — in the oblast of Zaporizhzhya. It has its own by-laws and a five-member board. An Agency Agreement with MFC governs the relationship.

    Year 1One paid staff from Canada and one from Ukraine. Twelve home care clients. A single rented apartment in central Zaporizhzhya.

11. 2005

    The Florence Centre is founded

    Otto and Florence Driedger, professors of Social Services and Restorative Justice at the University of Regina, together with Professors of Social Work at the National University of Zaporizhzhya, establish the Florence Centre as a non-governmental agency. Its Kangaroo Program offers day care for children with special needs.

12. 2011

    Prometheus begins

    A Parent Association that grew out of the Florence Centre's work establishes Prometheus, a learning centre for children with special needs not accepted in the public schools. The first rented apartment in Zaporizhzhya served 28 children up to six years of age. As enrollment grew, a succession of larger facilities was required; the whole program is now run out of a former public school.

13. 2014

    War in the east of Ukraine

    Conflict erupts in Donetsk and Luhansk and Crimea is annexed. Refugees arrive in Zaporizhzhya from frontline areas. The Mennonite Family Centre expands home care to meet the new need.

14. 2022

    February 24 · Full-scale invasion

    The work continued, in a city on the front lines

    Zaporizhzhya became a city on the front lines. When people sent their family members to safer regions, our staff stayed. Home care visits continued. Clients began to arrive from villages and towns close to the occupied regions.

15. Today

    Three primary programs, two community partnerships, twenty-nine staff

    The Mennonite Family Centre runs the Home Care, Respite and Day Programs and a visitation program with food deliveries for internally displaced persons, and supports the Florence Centre and Prometheus financially.