Our History
Just south of the entrance to Becketwood, with its welcoming red sign, another gateway announces its presence with a modest brass plaque-Sheltering Arms. The preservation of this gate is a graceful nod to the history of the property that is Becketwood today.
The story begins with Sister Annette Relf, the first Episcopal deaconess in Minnesota. Her dream was to create an orphanage and she did. She founded the Sheltering Arms orphanage in 1882. In 1900, Sheltering Arms received land on the west bank of the Mississippi from the estate of Richard Martin and in 1910, the brick orphanage building was built. The stone chapel, still in use today, was built in 1922. The main building continued to operate as an orphanage until 1942, when it became the Sister Kenny Treatment Center for people with polio. In 1955, the building became a day school for children with developmental disabilities.
Community needs changed again and, in 1982, the Sheltering Arms board of directors made the courageous and visionary decision to close the school, sell the property, and use the proceeds to create a foundation to support children's programs. The Episcopal Church Home bought the property in order to construct a new facility on the site, to meet the expanding need for housing for older people. The result is the current Becketwood building, an independently-operated housing cooperative for active seniors 55 and older.
From orphanage to hospital to school to housing for seniors, this unique property has continued to serve the needs of an evolving community for over 120 years-true to Sister Annette Relf's philosophy to keep finding new needs and to serve them.
