In the year 1876, the needs of Norwich were many and a newly formed social service agency, United Workers (presently UCFS) decided to address the needs of seniors by opening Sheltering Arms.
A year later Sheltering Arms opened to serve as a “meeting place and a clearing house for those with social needs.” Starting in 1877, the original location of Sheltering Arms was rented at 61 Thames Street “to provide care and… shelter of the sick.” “This location proved to be too noisy and unsuitable because of the horse carts… passing continually and raising clouds of ‘unhealthy dust’.” A new location was found on Harland Road in 1878, where “any sick ones could be lured back to health, or take a last lingering look at life among the budding trees and song of birds.” That location even served as a hospital before The William W. Backus Hospital was constructed in 1893. The current location of Sheltering Arms, at 165 McKinley Avenue in Norwich, was built on land acquired from John Rockwell in 1926. This lovely building retains “the spatial and architectural elegance of that time.”
Today, Sheltering Arms operates as a 30-room residential care community for men and women over 60 years of age. Our retirement care community offers a less restrictive, but dignified, alternative for seniors who could benefit from supervised retirement living. Our residents spend their golden years in comfort enjoying companionship, homestyle meals, housekeeping, personal laundry services, social and recreational activities.