Hospice Home Becoming a Reality
As Entertainment Chairperson for the annual Hospice Gala, I would like to mention an ambitious project underway at United Hospice of Rockland – the Joe Raso Hospice Home! Read on for more information about this amazing and essential home.
Since 1988, United Hospice of Rockland has cared for thousands of our neighbors in Rockland and lower Orange Counties, providing the essential care and services that enable those who are seriously ill to remain in their own homes, and offering them comfort, dignity and control over the important decisions that impact their end-of-life care.
In recent years, a large and growing number of people who would benefit from United Hospice of Rockland’s care and services have not been able to do so. There are those who live alone, with no support system in place to complement Hospice’s program of care, live with an elderly or infirmed partner whose own condition prevents them from being able to provide adequate care or support, come from institutional settings or return from having spent time outside the community, who have no home to which they can return, or have families who are fearful of caring for their loved ones at home during their final phases of life.
United Hospice of Rockland’s answer to this considerable gap in services is to build a Hospice Home. The Home will offer a residential environment, together with the full complement of Hospice’s comfort-oriented care and services including expert pain and symptom management, nursing care, assistance with the tasks of daily living, friendly visiting by volunteers, spiritual and psycho-social counseling for patients and their loved ones, and bereavement counseling and support groups for surviving family members.
The Hospice Home, consisting of approximately 10,000 square feet, will be situated on 11 beautiful acres in New City, amidst a peaceful setting of streams, woodlands, wildlife, and a pond. We anticipate serving 70-93 patients a year. The residence will be as home-like as possible.
The Hospice Home is the most ambitious undertaking in our 21 year history, and its success depends on the endorsement and support of the community we serve. Through a successful partnership between our community and our Board and staff, United Hospice of Rockland will be able to build the Home, adding this important and much-needed component to the programs and services Hospice offers for our patients and their families.
Help Hospice out by contributing to our wish list: Currently we are looking for materials for building, decorating, furnishing, equipping and landscaping our new Hospice home. For more information about investing in the Hospice Home, please contact Lanie Etkind, Director of Development at letkind@hospiceofrockland.org or 845-634-4974.
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