Our Story

OUR HOSPICE HOME MISSION:

TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND DEATH OF PERSONS FACING DEATH AND GRIEF THROUGH SKILLED AND COMPASSIONATE PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL AND SPIRITUAL CARE IN THE SETTING OF THE INDIVIDUAL’S CHOICE.

Hospice care is about living fully to the very end of life with dignity and comfort. The individual is valued as a living person who is experiencing the dying process. At some time, we must all face the end of life. Most of us share a common hope, that when death comes to us or to a loved one, it will be peaceful and free of pain, we hope to face death surrounded by those we love, feeling safe, comfortable and cared for.

A BRIEF HISTORY:

Our Home is named after Marjorie Willoughby Snowden whom believed that life was a journey. She also knew as we all do that at times the journey seems easy, full of joy and abundance. She also knew that sometimes the journey got rough but that the road was made easier by others offering support and love. Out of this knowing grew a vision to provide a much needed love and support to those whose journey has brought them face to face with death and dying.

It was a simple vision a vision implemented in a small grass roots way. On December 15, 1981 Kamloops Hospice Association received its status as a Society. In 2002 we started construction of our Home with only 40% of the required funds in the bank but we were confident we could fundraise while the building was under construction. The building was completed in December 2003. In January 2004 we received funding from Interior Health which amounted to one third of our budget. The remaining two thirds is raised through user fees, donations and fundraising activities.

We opened our doors to our first patient on February 16, 2004. We soon realized that six beds would not adequately serve our community. In 2006 we answered a “Request for Proposal” from Interior Health to build six additional Hospice beds. Our bid was successful and in 2007 we started expanding our Home to accommodate six more beds. On March 10, 2008 we opened our additional six bed wing. We continue to fundraise to raise the additional $35,000.00 to $40,000.00 per month we need to operate our Hospice Home.


IN CLOSING

On behalf of the patients who have already passed through our doors and the ones that are yet to come thank you for the opportunity to present our Home for consideration. Should our Hospice Home be successful the funds awarded will go toward helping people who can not afford the daily charge of $30.90 per day. We never want cost to sway anyone’s reason for not coming to Hospice. If we can build a fund that will help with those costs then the worry lessens for everyone. This provides the opportunity to continue to raise the level of the care we are able to provide our patients.