Evergreen Hospice fundraiser to help build the first dedicated residence inside a Markham national park

By Gene Pereira, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

It’s been almost 40 years in the making, but a long-awaited mission of transitioning to a hospice residence is well within sight for Evergreen Hospice.

The non-profit, charitable organization, which provides community-based supportive services to individuals and families in Markham, Stouffville, and Thornhill who are living with life-threatening illness, caregiving, or coping with the death of a loved one, is looking to build and furnish the first dedicated hospice located inside a Canadian National Park.

The organization is looking to raise $5 million to begin operating the residence located at Rouge National Urban Park by 2026.

“It wasn’t a matter of if it comes, it’s a matter of when,” said Evergreen Hospice CEO Laura Lavallee. “So, in the last year,  we’ve really made some monumental steps through both Ministry of Health support and the National Park support to really get us this long-awaited dream of getting into motion.”

The new residence will provide a home-like environment where individuals can receive professional care 24 hours a day and allow families to make the most of those final days.

 “As Evergreen continues to grow its legacy of almost four decades in the community, we have now secured funding for a three-bed hospice in the Rouge National Urban Park,” said Lavallee. “It’s the first time in Canada that there’s ever been a partnership between a national park and a hospice to build.

“We’re doing that in a sort of ground-breaking achievement. Our organization has served in-home for almost 40 years. We’re also the provider for hospice care for Markham, Stouffville and Thornhill.”

The residence, situated on the edge of 1.5 acres of land within Rouge National Urban Park, will be located at 7672 Elgin Mills Road in Markham.

The project to build a tranquil space for patients and their loved ones will see the retrofitting of an existing house on the property featuring three private rooms, a shared kitchen, a meditation space, a library, and a nursing station.

Modern “pods” will also be constructed for loved ones to stay on-site, along with an outdoor pollinator garden and gazebo. The design will be environmentally conscious and feature solar power, heat pumps, and greywater recycling.

Lavallee says Evergreen has received a lot of feedback from environmentalists from an ecological standpoint. The interest peaks when it comes to national park components, but also the therapeutic nature of having natural surrounding space.

“When you think of your end-of-life days with your loved ones, typically you want to have space,” she said. “You want to be surrounded by your loved ones in a peaceful environment, and most often we find that nature is the core component to healing and closure for both a patient and the patient’s family. The pods are really an eco-friendly way to respect nature and the history of the park, but also have a private space for loved ones.”

Families want to spend as much time with their loved ones.

“Even in these crucial times, a short little drive home is too far sometimes,” said Lavallee. “Having pods accessible to the family members, having that private space, and if family members are flying in and want to be there, they can be there and take their time and heal in that space, as well as having the option of being next to the bedside.”

Services will feature 24-hour on-site palliative nursing care, physician visits, and on-call support, as well as an interprofessional team to meet the psychosocial, physical, practical, and spiritual needs of residents and their families.

Evergreen has provided bedside support, clinical teams inside the home, a day hospice, visiting hospice program. The organization also provides wraparound free psychosocial counselling for loved ones who have caregiver burnout and grieving and bereavement services following a loss.

Evergreen currently holds the licensing and is responsible for all in-home hospice and all-day hospice supports across Markham, Stouffville, and Thornhill, says Lavallee.

It only makes sense, she adds, that they add this component to their model of care in effort to meet “all community members where they are at.”

“The quality of service has to be there,” said Lavallee. “There has to be trust, so given the legacy of providing that level of care for such a long time, it is only our organic next step to be able to move and transition into having residential beds.”

Filling out the composition of services.

“Sort of that holistic basket model of where someone is on their journey,” she added. “How do we support them, and how do we make sure there’s a seamless transition in care as their healthcare needs change?”

While there may be other medical models out there and support systems, there’s a clear delineation between palliative support and hospice support, says Lavallee.

“Palliative means end of life, hospice is we’re mandated to have it around a home environment, away from the medical model,” she explained. “We don’t want beeping machines, we want warm quilts and love, and cups of tea, and closure and memory making.

“Our whole model is very holistic in nature. That’s removed from palliative care, which can be very medical.”

While services provided by Evergreen are free, fundraising is key. The Ministry of Health provides 30 per cent of the needed funds, while 70 per cent comes from donations, events, galas, and the community.

That means constantly fundraising.

Evergreen is holding a special gala this Sept. 25 at Porsche Centre Markham to help raise $5 million for its capital campaign. All proceeds from that night will go towards the hospice residence project.

“Not only is it awareness, but we will have the literal mock build,” said Lavallee. “We will have structures so people can see what it’s going to look like. We’ll have video tours.”

Visit evgcares.org for more information.

 

Photo: Evergreen Hospice residence will be nestled on 1.5 acres of land within Rouge National Urban Park.