With the help of a $150,000 grant from the provincial government, Hospice Georgian Triangle is expanding.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation has given Hospice Georgian Triangle a Resilient Communities Fund grant to help face the challenges brought on by COVID-19. The hospice will be using the grant to open a second location in the spring of 2021 at 186 Hurontario Street, Unit 103, where they’ll be providing grief and bereavement services specifically for children and youth, as well as opening a Palliative Pain and Symptom Management Clinic.
“In order to reorganize and better deliver (services) with best practice in mind in regards to health restrictions, this new space idea really came to the forefront,” said Janet Fairbridge, foundation director with Hospice Georgian Triangle. “It had been something we had been talking about – down the road, blue skies, to grow the programs – and then the pandemic came and it really shone a bright light on what those practical needs were around physical space.”
“These are two brand new programs we’re now able to create and grow now that we have more space to do it. It’s super exciting and we are so pleased,” she said.
Funds from the grant are being used to help with hiring two full-time staff, offering workshops and training, purchasing art therapy supplies, developmental toys, scan thermometers as well as personal protective equipment and cleaning materials.
“What we’ve found through COVID-19 with social distancing requirements, in many cases we weren’t able to do that at Campbell House. In-person therapies and support programs have ceased. As public health restrictions allow, we will start those up again,” said Fairbridge. “What opening a second location will help us do is cut down on the amount of traffic going into Campbell House.”
The new programs are expected to be up and running in the spring. The need for the new programs is great, says Fairbridge, as the organization hopes to further normalize the experience of palliative care.
“We don’t want it to be scary for people. We want to normalize the conversation around death and dying,” she said. “Also, just because (someone) has received a palliative diagnosis, hopefully their disease trajectory is going to be a long one. Good palliative care can run alongside curative treatments.”
“It looks at the whole person, not just their physical health but also their mental and spiritual health,” she added.
