In its eight-and-a-half years of operation, the Chatham-Kent Hospice has helped nearly 1,500 families receive end-of-life care and support.
However, it’s unfair to put a number in place of so many names, and hospice personnel said even that figure is not accurate.
“That number really doesn’t tell you the impact,” said Jodi Maroney, executive director of the hospice foundation. “That’s just counting a family as one when there are so man family members within each family. And that doesn’t include the number of people we’ve supported with grief and bereavement support.”
For the latter group, that number is closing in on 1,000.
The hospice, up and running since April 2016, helps ease the pressure families endure when a loved one is diagnosed with a life-limiting illness. Testimonials of the care received from hospice staff and volunteers have been glowing.
Support for the hospice from the community has shone bright as well. It’s appreciated, as the provincial funding only covers about 48 per cent of what the hospice does.
Jessica Smith, executive director of the hospice, said part of the need for community support dollars is due to the desire to provide additional services to the community.
“Some of that is based on what it costs to provide the services we want and need to provide here at hospice,” she said. “The other is that government funding is mandated only towards certain roles and services. There are other areas that just aren’t applicable for the funding. There will always be a need for the fundraising that the foundation helps with so much.”
Programs such as Lasting Memories fall outside the provincial funding. The program, which has allowed hospice residents to attend off-site events thanks to the support of local paramedics, is intensely popular, however.
“This is a program we’re pretty excited about,” Smith said. “I’ve heard some really heartwarming stories about some special things residents and families have been able to do together that wouldn’t have been possible without the EMS support.”
Grief and bereavement support is extended to families of hospice residents, but Smith said it also includes individuals in the community that have experienced a loss not connected to the hospice.
Grief is not selective.
“Our grief and bereavement programs can be for anyone having a loss in the community. It can include one-on-one service, but also group programs,” Smith said. “We also have a number of one-off events such as Coping Through the Holidays, which takes place later this month.”
Maroney stressed there is no cost for people to take part. That’s what the fundraising is for.
“People are paying it forward,” she said. “We want them to know the hospice is here to support them through their grief journey. We care about them.”
Looking back, Maroney said the past 8.5 years have flown by. Smith said having the pandemic years in the middle of that period blurred everything in some ways, but not others.
“The need for our services never changed. The way we delivered them did change,” she said. “We utilized a lot of volunteers in many roles, but we had to pause all of that during the pandemic. We’re very happy to be back to close to normal, but, like any organization in health care, we will forever be changed.”
Smith said the hospice’s team of more than 180 volunteers is vital to most aspects of the facility.
“We utilize volunteers in almost any role you can think of with the exception of professional care – nurses, PSWs (personal support workers),” she said. “But we do have roles for direct-support volunteers who work alongside those clinical staff. We are very grateful for the volunteer support.”
Staffing for the hospice, between clinical, grief and bereavement support, and administration, numbers just under 50.
Keeping it all running requires an estimated $157,000 per month in community support, Maroney said.
“We’ve been really lucky. The community has really embraced the idea of a hospice,” she said.
Fundraising comes in all sizes. The hospice foundation runs several events, including the recent gala, as well as the annual spring Hike for Hospice. And the next event is the newly added Cornhole for Hospice, which takes place Feb. 8 at the Bradley Centre.
On top of that, Maroney said, comes outside support. There is a monthly giving program where about 330 people have signed up to donate each month to the hospice.
“It’s such an amazing program. Every month, we have expenses, so just getting that revenue every single month is fantastic.”
Maroney said there has been a huge uptick in the number of fundraising events run by community groups. Last year, she said such events raised more than $200,000.
The need doesn’t change, but costs, like everywhere else, continue to rise.
To learn more about the Chatham-Kent Hospice, visit chathamkenthospice.com.
