ND alum Kelly, wife receive 2nd annual Hesburgh Award
By GEOFF BRODIE
News Writer
The second annual Hesburgh Award for Business Ethics was presented on Wednesday evening in the Jordan Auditorium to Daniel Kelly, a 1957 alumnus, and his wife Rosemary, founders of a center for the seriously mentally ill.
The award was presented by Father Theodore Hesburgh, University president emeritus, on behalf of Notre Dame's Center for Ethics and Religious values in Business.
The ceremony also included a lecture, "The New Role of Business in Society," given by the Kellys and John Boatright, professor of business ethics at Loyola University in Chicago. The lecture was the third part of the Frank Cahill Lecture Series, which was established to honor 1959 Notre Dame alumnus Cahill and his commitment to ethical behavior and integrity.
The Kellys received the Hesburgh Award for starting and founding the Rose Hill Center. Located in Holly, Mich., the Rose Hill Center houses 51 adults who need assistance because of schizophrenia, and other serious mental illnesses.
Founded in 1992, the center has aided around 400 troubled adults into new lives of self-reliance. Based on a four part program of work, clinical and social support, and an independent skills program; individuals learn how to gain the skills, qualities, and confidence necessary to live life successfully on their own.
The center, which is also a farm, provides five-hour-a-day jobs, social functions, medical attention, support groups and psychology classes to all of its guests. The busy schedule allows the guests little time to dwell on their illness and instills a feeling of individual importance.
The idea to start the Rose Hill Center would never have materialized if it was not for the Kelly's son, John, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 1986.
"Mental illness is like a robber, a thief in the night," said Rosemary Kelly. "It came and took over my son. Something just clicked in his mind that changed him forever. It was horrible."
Knowing that the treatment John needed was not available in their home town of Detroit, the Kellys sent their son to a specialized hospital in Connecticut. He had improved so much from his treatment that the doctor's recommended he not go back home because he could end up relying too greatly on his parents. The only other option was a group home, which after some research, proved to be a bad idea.
"Most of the group homes we visited I would not leave my dog there, let alone my son," said Rosemary Kelly.
This is when the idea formed to start their own treatment center. And not just one for John, but for anyone like him who needed special help. With some extensive planning, and much financial pooling, Rose Hill Center was born on 370 plus acres of rolling hills and a beautiful lake in the surreal countryside just north of Detroit.
One might wonder how graduates from the center actually end up.
To find out, one needs to only look at Mike Kelly himself. He now is staff member at the Rose Hill Center, lives on his own independently, and has his own car.
The Kelly family could have just worried about their own son's treatment, but they were just as concerned for anyone with similar mental problems. They now have an $2.5 million endowment fund for scholarships to the Center, which they hope will eventually reach $10 million.
Why would a family take so many risks for others when they have what seems an overbearing amount of problems on their own?
"The daily love of God's work," said Rosemary Kelly.
All News Stories for Monday, March 19, 2001
