Arden Wood Planning Ahead

The Board of Trustees will review every offer to ensure the intended use is congruent with good stewardship of the land and of our neighbors. Ultimately, once the property is sold, we will have little control over the new owner’s actions. At that point, the City of San Francisco will be able to influence the process through the planning and permitting process. And the City of San Francisco zoning regulations will ensure the property is developed thoughtfully and wisely.

The main building does not match our current demand for services. And, in order to keep it operational, it requires an unsustainable divergence of resources away from our mission (to heal and to train Christian Science nurses). The building was constructed at a time when there were multiple Christian Science churches in San Francisco, each with hundreds of members. The care needs and the membership numbers are quite different today.

The Mother Church has always supported Arden Wood’s overall mission and our loving care of patients. And we always keep The Mother Church informed. As an independent institution, however, we do not ask for permission to take steps in our best interest.

Simply stated, the costs of maintaining the current facility and of renovating or rebuilding on this property are prohibitively high and unsustainable. While our financial reserves are higher than they have been in years, the anticipated infrastructure maintenance costs over time have become too big of a drain. We aren’t moving because we have to; we are moving because we need to better serve the long-term mission of Arden Wood.

The need for our healing and training mission has never been greater than it is today. In a new facility, we will be able to support healing in more flexible, sustainable ways, and to respond more nimbly to those who aspire to remain home for as long as possible. We anticipate expanding our outreach, enabling Arden Wood to be a healing presence more frequently and further afield.

Since the mid-1970s, the Arden Wood Board has been exploring potential options shy of selling the property. Not until it became abundantly clear there were no other viable options did the Board take this decisive action.

The key reasons for the transition are outlined in the remarks of Ed and John at the 2022 Annual Meeting. Click here to watch.

We are currently drafting the criteria. The best qualities you can imagine are likely to be on the list!

We plan to expand our visiting service to embrace a wider geographic area and to respond to a growing number of calls for assessment and care over FaceTime, Zoom, and What’s App. We are considering several other innovations to broaden our outreach.

Yes! We expect to expand our outreach by hosting a wider variety of speakers and events that inspire and inform a worldwide audience.

There are labor shortages in virtually every sector of the U.S. economy, primarily resulting from strong economic growth and a decline in the rate of labor growth. Shortages are especially noticeable in the service industry, including nursing, teaching, food, housekeeping, and maintenance services. The VERY high cost of living in the San Francisco Bay area is a significant factor in our ability to recruit and retain Christian Science nurses and service staff. Many of our employees commute two hours each way because of housing costs closer to the city. Also, a significant number of Christian Science nurses are retiring or nearing retirement. It’s time to replenish the Field!

It is our expectant hope that we move seamlessly from the current facility to the new one.

We expect our services to continue without interruption. There might be a reduction in some service offerings during the actual move from the current facility to the new one. We will know more as we approach that point.

There is a range for what the property might be worth. The actual value will be determined by the Arden Wood Trustees, when they choose to accept a bid on the property. The proceeds of the sale will go directly to Arden Wood, Inc.

We anticipate the proceeds from the sale of the current property will cover these costs and leave a stabilizing endowment to better support our mission going forward.

We are always grateful for the support of Christian Scientists around the world for our healing and training mission.

The cost of receiving Christian Science nursing care will not be impacted by the move. There are regular adjustments to those costs based on a broad range of factors, and that will continue to be the case.

We will focus on each staff member’s circumstances as we get closer to the transition.

We certainly hope so! And we also hope that the new location will attract even more Christian Science nurses.

In addition to a host of other criteria, one of the key considerations will be access to major transportation services.

Currently, our hope is to be within 100 miles of the San Francisco metropolitan area, but we will remain open to other opportunities based on the criteria for and the attractiveness of a proposed location.