Part of the St. Camillus family, graduate students Sam Samson (l) and Janie Schulz. Photo by Marty Peters.
Trudy Goller’s face lights up when she answers a knock to find Sam Samson at her doorstep. The vivacious octogenarian swings open the door and ushers in Samson, a native of India in his 20s who is studying for his master’s in criminal justice data analytics at Marquette.
The two are neighbors and fast friends at St. Camillus, Milwaukee’s largest senior community and a Catholic institution with strong ties to the archdiocese and Milwaukee’s Jesuit community. Former Marquette Presidents Robert Wild, S.J., and Albert DiUlio, S.J., live there, and President Kimo Ah Yun recently visited to connect with them and speak with residents, including many alumni.
After reading about a similar program in the Netherlands and then researching nonfamilial intergenerational housing in the U.S., Dr. Stacy Barnes, Grad ’14, a nursing professor of practice who specializes in geriatrics, saw St. Camillus as a natural place for a new Marquette partnership.
She launched the Students in Residence Program there in 2022. It’s open to students who agree to devote eight hours each week interacting with the senior residents in return for reduced rent at the facility about eight miles west of campus.
One of five student residents this year, Samson uses his interactions to improve his English, saying, “It’s a way of giving, but I also receive. I feel happy every day when I wake up.’’
“It’s a way of giving, but I also receive. I feel happy every day when I wake up.’’
Sam Samson
Janie Schulz, a doctoral student in clinical psychology, has lived at St. Camillus for two years and helps host Golden Eagles basketball watch parties.
She loves the energy and sense of community. “I seriously cannot imagine living anywhere else,’’ she says.
As chair of St. Camillus’ 100-plus member strong Marquette Club for alumni, David Krill, Bus Ad ’64, has co-hosted many events with Samson and Schulz. “This partnership with Marquette is a win-win situation,’’ he says.
