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Digging deep for Hospice
Volunteers, county officials break ground for new ‘house' facility
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by EMILY BARNES
Friends of Hospice, Charles County commissioners and others break ground for the Charles County Hospice House last week.
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County officials took the first concrete steps to helping terminally ill residents by participating in the groundbreaking ceremony for the county's Hospice House on Thursday.
The Charles County commissioners gave the five-acre lot on Davis Road in Waldorf with a 30-year lease as a gift, said Joe Casalino, House campaign manager, adding that it was an outstanding show of support from the commissioners that jumpstarted the Hospice House campaign.
During the ceremony, Charles County Hospice President and Chief Executive Officer Dixie Poe acknowledged donors who contributed $1,000 or more with a certificate of recognition.
The Friends of Hospice presented a check for $120,000 raised through events in the community and corporate sponsors who've made donations as well as sponsoring events, said Friends of Hospice President Leslie Hancock.
After the blessing and anointing of the land, the county commissioners, Southern Maryland General Assembly delegation, Friends of Hospice and Hospice House campaign chairs Dolores Datcher and Sen. Thomas "Mac" Middleton (D-Charles) each helped turn the dirt at the groundbreaking ceremony before the symbolic release of doves.
"It was a beautiful and moving ceremony that exceeded our expectations in every way," Poe said. "The weather was hot and I think that is a sign because building the Hospice House has been such a hot and pressing issue for the community over the last few years. Now, we just need to move forward and get it built."
Commissioner Samuel N. Graves Jr. (D) expects the Hospice House will be a "tremendous asset for the community."
The county is changing, he said.
"Historically when kids grew up here, they would stay here and work here. However, today, more of our children are going elsewhere to work and as we age we don't have our children here to help care for us [anymore]."
The house will offer 24 hour respite care and have 10 bedrooms, Casalino said.
"We are planning to open with six to eight rooms," he said. "A number of rooms will be convertible from office space to rooms for patients as the needs continue to grow."
The house will have all the amenities necessary to make life as normal as possible for the patients and their families such as a living area, kitchen, laundry room, children's play room and business office.
It is expected to cost $2.2 million to open the doors in fall 2010.
"We still need about another $1 [million] to $1.2 million worth of supplies and financial support to open the house," Casalino said. "It truly is a community project, and we need the continued support to raise that money."
For those who donate, there are naming opportunities depending on how much is donated. For example, if someone donates $100, they can name a stone or a tree at the Hospice House, he said.
It's important to realize that "Hospice isn't just about cancer; it's about every kind of illness out there that is challenging our community," Casalino said. Cancer patients make up more than half of all Hospice patients in Charles County, according to Nancy Bowling, Hospice director of finance and human resources.
Hospice also provides bereavement care to more than 3,000 county residents a year, Casalino said.
"That care begins before the patient is ever deceased. We help them prepare and understand the things they are going to feel, and help them deal with the pain not only immediately after the patient is deceased but through out the year."
How to help
For more information on how to donate to the Hospice House, go to www.charlescountyhospicehouse.com.
