Hospice Huntsville is expanding its building to better support its services.
The organization is now in the pre-construction stage of a 3,500 square foot extension at the back of its facility, which will add specialized spaces for several programs.
Executive Director Rebecca Ellerson says that includes a dedicated room for its grief and bereavement group, four rooms for one-on-one counselling, a storage space, and an additional family room and washroom.
She says they’ve been fortunate enough to lean on community spaces such as churches and libraries over the past decade, but it was time to have their own place for certain activities.
“The pandemic really highlighted that it was important for us to have control of a space where we could make sure we had all the health and safety things that we need to have as a healthcare setting,” says Ellerson. “But also to make sure these programs can continue. We know how critical it is for people to be able to connect and work through their grief and loss, so ensuring there are spaces dedicated to this is so important.”
According to Ellerson, another thing the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted was the importance of having a space for families to gather, hold family events, and meet with medical teams—something a second family room should address.
“We had only one space where families could gather, and when we had to limit how many visitors were coming in, it didn’t feel the sort of home-like environment that we want people to have access to while they’re using our hospice services,” she says.
Ellerson says this expansion is possible because of last year’s increase in provincial funding to hospices, which gives them more predictable support for their regular programs and allows them to focus more fundraising efforts on the expansion.
Since the project is still in its very early stages, Ellerson says they need to work out its budget before starting to fundraise specifically for the construction and outfitting of the space. If all goes as planned with building permits, she says they hope to start construction this year and be using the space by 2026.
