AUGUSTA (AP) — A church-run home for poor women in Augusta is closing after nearly 150 years.

Leaders of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, which operates the St. Mark’s Home on Winthrop Street, voted last week to close the facility, which opened in 1870 but now has just four residents.

Heidi Shott, a spokeswoman for the Episcopal Diocese of Maine, says the timetable for closing the home hasn’t been set.

Shott told the Kennebec Journal (http://bit.ly/1omJhQf ) the closure was initiated because of financial pressure stemming from the small number of residents. The facility has room for up to 17 people.

Shott says rapid growth in the amount of senior housing in the area has taken over the home’s function.

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