238 Merrimac Court |
25th AnniversaryCALVERT HOSPICE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF Saturday, June 20th marked the first event to commemorate Calvert Hospice's 25 years of service to the residents of Calvert County at a ceremony that also included the dedication of the new Burnett-Calvert Hospice House on Sixes Road in Prince Frederick. Several elected officials including Senator Roy Dyson, Senator Mike V. Miller, Jr., former Maryland State Senator Bernie Fowler and Delegate Tony O'Donnell and former Delegate and Secretary of Veteran's Affairs George Owens III along with over 100 guests gathered to celebrate Calvert Hospice’s growth and accomplishments over the past 25 years. Calvert Hospice is the result of many dedicated volunteers with a vision that began over 25 years ago. The original idea came from a study done by the League of Women Voters on mental health needs in Calvert County. Marie Andrews, Chair of the study, worked with the Mental Health Association and many others who came together and began the work of creating the organization that would become Calvert Hospice. Marie Andrews, Dr. Craig Jeschke, June King, and Ruth Reid signed the Articles of Incorporation on October 5, 1983 and served on the first Board of Directors. The organizers immediately began recruiting volunteers to develop the Hospice bereavement and patient care programs. "From the beginning volunteers have been essential to the existence of Calvert Hospice. Volunteers for Calvert Hospice make it possible to offer bereavement programs, raise crucially needed funds, support patients and families and to make the Hospice House and other programs possible," said Lynn Bonde, Executive Director of Calvert Hospice. "Without our dedicated volunteers we could not accomplish all that we do for the residents of Calvert County. It has been through their caring and contributions that we have continued to grow in our mission for 25 years and through that same dedication that we are now about to open Calvert County's much needed Hospice House." The Burnett-Calvert Hospice House was dedicated in a prayer by Calvert Hospice Board Member Deacon John Verdon and blessed by Calvert Hospice Chaplain Pastor Willie Davis. The Hospice House will be a home-away-from-home, available to anyone in Calvert County living with a terminal illness for which care at home is not an option. Access to the Calvert Hospice House will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, regardless of the individual’s ability to pay and will be staffed with trained, professional Hospice caregivers around the clock. Hospice House Manager Tiffany Gaines, CRNP, explained, "The Hospice House team will support individuals and families just as it would in their own residence and the full range of Hospice services, including medicines, oxygen, equipment, and medical supplies will be provided." Lynne Bonde, Executive Director of Calvert Hospice, explained that, "Family members will be welcome and encouraged to spend as much time with the residents as they are able. The House will offer the additional amenities of a comfortable single-family home including a family room, kitchen and dining areas where staff, families and volunteers can prepare meals for residents. A quiet space and gardens will be available for residents and families for reflection and prayer." Bonde thanked the many generous members of the community who have contributed to the building of the Burnett-Calvert Hospice House. A ribbon cutting ceremony and tours of the completed Burnett-Calvert Hospice House will be scheduled for the fall of this year. The first patients of the Hospice House are expected in October, 2009. In the words of Marie Andrews, "Calvert Hospice has always focused on excellence in providing the services that are now part of Hospice - in the areas of the physical, the mental, the emotional, the spiritual, and the social relationship pieces of caring for terminally ill people.” Through the dedication of so many Calvert Hospice services have brought support, comfort and caring to thousands of Calvert families for twenty-five years and will continue to do so for the years to come. |
