History

Today at Covenant Woods, we take great pride in offering the benefits of an active lifestyle and state-of-the-art facilities in the midst of the natural beauty of Hanover’s rolling countryside. As an accredited Continuing Care Retirement Community, we have a commitment to the future well-being of both the community and its residents, and that commitment is grounded in a long and proud history of service and caring.

Here at Covenant Woods, our roots run strong and deep. We are part of an enduring legacy of caring and community whose origins can be traced back more than a century to the Richmond Home for Ladies. In 1882, as Richmond, Virginia, was recovering from the devastation of the Civil War, all of its residents were working to bring normalcy back to the city. Many were building new fortunes. But the older women, many of whom had lost their sons and husbands, and who had adequate resources before the war, had nothing left but worthless Confederate paper and no way to survive. To help these ladies to a respectable lifestyle, the Presbyterian and Methodist churches in the Richmond area were making plans to open the Richmond Home for Ladies—now named Covenant Woods.

Dr. William W. Parker, a physician, met with Dr. D.H. Gregg—who is referred to in the history as “bountifully endowed with the world’s goods.” Dr. Gregg agreed that there was a need and offered $10,000 in Petersburg Railway bonds for the construction of a home for aged and infirmed females. Dr. Parker secured support from Dr. Moses D. Hoge, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church and Bishop Granberry of Centenary Methodist Church; and all agreed to proceed with the plans for a home for elderly Methodist and Presbyterian women.

At a meeting on February 15, 1883, the name “Richmond Home for Ladies” was adopted. That same month Dr. Gregg purchased a lovely old brick home at 515 North Seventh Street, between Clay and Leigh streets. By year's end, it housed 12 ladies and the admission fee was $200. However, no one was denied entrance because of lack of funds.

By 1913, with the home filled to capacity and a long waiting list, the decision was made to move to the corner of Stuart Avenue and Mulberry Street—then Richmond’s Far West End. Members of the community made gifts of food, and the Methodist and Presbyterian churches supported the home financially.

Over the years the Richmond Home for Ladies expanded and changed to meet the needs of the times: an infirmary was added, nurses were added to the staff, and then an administrator. The home continually updated and modernized to fulfill its mission—exceptional quality of care and an exceptional quality of life for seniors—within the parameters of the times.

Today, Covenant Woods serves both men and women on a 75-acre campus in Hanover County. The same mission—caring for people as long as they live—is now called a Continuing Care Retirement Community and is a place where our residents can enjoy fine dining, 24-hour security, a fitness center, physical therapy facilities, an indoor sports pool, bocce ball courts, gardening areas, a woodworking shop, an art studio, nature trail surrounding a stocked pond, a barber and beauty shop, lounge areas and meeting rooms. There are three levels of health care services in Manor East - nursing, assisted living and memory support. Should these services be required by residents, the Life Care benefit provides unparalleled peace of mind and protection from possibly catastrophic health care costs.