Sister Claire Bouchard loves hearing, “Mom! I’m home!” when people walk into Sacred Hearts Retreat Center, making their yearly visit.

Geese, turkeys, fox, osprey and coyotes enjoy the grounds as well. Sometimes deer come to the windows of the chapel during Mass.

“At times it almost overwhelms people that they’re part of the beauty, they’re part of nature,” said Carol Galante-Dias, the center’s youth coordinator. “It’s like this is what it was all meant to be.”

The retreat center, located at 226 Great Neck Road, is increasingly popular among a wide variety of groups, said Bouchard, the administrator of the property, but there are challenges to keeping its doors open and it was on the market 10 years earlier.

While the property was for sale a decade ago, it was difficult to find the right buyer, Bouchard said. It is being considered for sale again should the right buyer comes along. Retreat centers in the area have been closing down, she said, and this is currently the only one in use in Wareham.

Recovery groups, parish retreats and youth events all come to the center, which already has bookings into 2019. Groups can bring their own speaker and have beds and hot meals provided during their stay. And there’s something for everyone, Bouchard said, with the beach and woods both accessible on the property.

The retreats are nondenominational and any group is welcome. A group of deaf women have been coming for 10 years, Bouchard said, a family holds a Passover Seder meal there each year, writing workshops and a group of laceworkers all enjoy the Sacred Hearts property.

“It doesn’t matter what the retreat is based on,” said Galante-Dias. “It’s the peace of the environment. It enhances any group that comes in.”

In 1943, the Congregation of Sacred Hearts bought the land as a seminary. It operated as a seminary until the 1960s, when it became a novitiate for incoming members of the fathers of the Sacred Hearts. In the 1980s, the property became a retreat center and has continued to operate as one ever since.

Maintaining the old building can be difficult and fundraising is a lot of work, Bouchard said. The operating budget has been “barely in the black” even though the calendar is packed with guests.

But Bouchard tries to keep the price as low as possible. She wants people who want to go on a retreat to be able to, so she doesn’t turn people away.

“I don’t want people to not come because they can’t afford it,” Bouchard said.

The main house has 52 beds and the youth center sleeps 41, allowing high school and college groups to “bunk out, pajama party style,” Galante-Dias said.

The property is 118 acres, 95 of which cannot be built on, and includes a walkway to the beach and a beach house, where groups go for lunch. Some people even have baptisms on the beach.

Groups meals are catered by Narrows Crossing Restaurant and the food is always “exquisite,” said Margaret Boutiette, who has volunteered at the center since 1966.

“It’s always welcoming here,” Boutiette said. “You’re treated like family when you walk in the door. It’s a place that you feel safe and comfortable.”

This is what has kept some people coming back to Sacred Hearts for decades, the women said. A retreat allows people to take a break from their obligations and have an opportunity to reflect and spend time with people who have similar interests.

“One you’ve been here and you’ve experienced it, you go home and say, ‘I’m so refreshed,’” Galante-Dias said. “There’s something that hits so deep in your heart that you didn’t think could ever be hit.”

The center is always looking for volunteers to help with upkeep, including scraping paint and repainting, weeding, gardening and maintenance.

Visitors are welcome to walk the grounds and enjoy nature in any season.

Those who wish to visit the property should call the retreat center at 508-295-0100 to let someone know there will be visitors.