June will deliver a bittersweet moment for Jodi Maroney, executive director of the Chatham-Kent Hospice Foundation. She is set to retire after nine years on the job.
Maroney actually became involved in the hospice prior to that point, as for three years, she served as director of development before the facility opened in Chatham.
She has watched the groundswell of support take root in Chatham-Kent for the hospice so quickly and so strongly; so much so it surprised her.
“I took the job knowing the hospice would be a great thing for the community, but I didn’t truly understand the impact it would have,” she said of the end-of-life care facility. “Just thinking of all the families we’ve been able to help. I was just a small part of it.”
During her time with the hospice, Maroney helped develop the organization’s governance framework, built recognition and trust in the community, and consistently raised the funds needed to support hospice end-of-life care in Chatham-Kent. This includes raising $5.8 million in the Capital Campaign and, to date, raising more than $15 million to enable the Chatham-Kent Hospice to care for over 1,530 families and provide grief and bereavement support to more than 1,950 individuals from across the municipality at no cost to them.
Maroney said she’ll miss the people she’s worked with, but it is because of them that she thinks the time is right to step down.
“I’m going to miss seeing everyone every day,” she said of the foundation team of six. “But I feel the foundation staff here are in such a good position to move forward with a new executive director. “They all work together very well. I think this is an ideal time for me to step away.”
Whoever fills her shoes – and the foundation is already looking – has a tall task. The foundation needs to raise $157,000 a month, on average, to meet the operating expenses that provincial funding does not cover.
Maroney said her time at the hospice foundation was a success because of the people of Chatham-Kent as well.
“I want to thank everyone. The community has been just awesome,” she said. “So many amazing people came together to make Chatham-Kent Hospice what it is today. We couldn’t do it without the community.”
Marian Redford, chair of the foundation’s board, said Maroney will be missed.
“We are deeply grateful for Jodi’s remarkable contributions, which have strengthened our organization and positioned us for continued success. She has inspired our team, cultivated valuable partnerships, and significantly advanced our impact in the community,” Redford said in a media release. “While her departure marks the end of an extraordinary chapter, we remain steadfast in our mission and vision for the future.”
As for what the future holds, Maroney said she’ll transition into retirement, joining her husband, Mike, former pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Chatham, who retired in June of 2024.
“I will spend a lot more time with family and friends,” Jodi Maroney said, “doing more of the activities that I’ve always wanted to do. My goal is not to be as ‘scheduled’ and take things as they come. But I have always been a very scheduled person. Just going with the flow is going to be hard work.”
In the meantime, a selection committee seeking Maroney’s replacement has engaged Logic Executive Search and Workplace Solutions, a local professional search firm, to lead the recruitment process to find a new executive director.
