The Foothills Country Hospice provides important care to families in a difficult time.
“We provide excellent palliative end-of-life care to our residents and their families as well,” said Karen Tiedje, interim executive director and clinical director for the Foothills Country Hospice Society (FCHS).
“We have a very strong bereavement support program, and we really feel that it’s a benefit to our local community to have the hospice available when people need it.”
In return, that community’s generosity is crucial to the service the FCHS delivers.
“We are partially funded by Alberta Health Services; we receive 57 per cent of our funding from them, but we do have to fundraise $1.3 million each year and it really is through the generous contributions of our local community that we’re able to do that,” Tiedje said. “We really are dependent on that support to keep our doors open."
To that end, over $70,000 has been raised over the years for the hospice by the Western Wheel Cares charity fund.
“Western Wheel Cares has been an incredible support to us for many years,” Tiedje said. “We’re so appreciative for that ongoing support.
“Not only that, the exposure to ensure the local community understands what our needs are is important, and we just finished our annual gala at the end of October, and it was an incredible success.”
Having raised $195,000, Tiedje thanked gala chair Debi Hartle and committee members Laurie MacDonald, Val McIvor and Tammy Pelletier, as well as all of the volunteers, sponsors and attendees for the event’s success.
Continuing to serve the community, the FCHS also aims to bolster support beyond the hospice walls.
“We started a pilot project that is going to be expanding our grief support services and our volunteer-led programming,” Tiedje said.
“One will be the grief support counselling, and follow-up with our hospice volunteers, and then there’s going to be a focus on both the No One Dies Alone (NODA) program and Nav-Care.”
The aim of the programs, once fully rolled out, will be to have outreach available to those in the community.
The NODA program will provide volunteer companionship and support for patients who are expected to die within 48 to 72 hours, and Nav-Care will offer volunteer support to people in living as well as possible through compassionate connection.
“Both of those programs will be supporting people in our community that are currently not in our hospice, but will be able to access that program,” Tiedje said.
The initial groundwork for the programs will be funded for two years by the Palliative and End of Life Care (PEOLC) Provincial Framework, but will become a continuing part of the hospice’s programming.
“That is expected to be an ongoing need for the hospice," Tiedje said.
There is also a capital campaign to expand the hospice beds planned to go forward in the near future.
Recently joining the FCHS team is fund development officer Shanon Maksymich. Her experience in the charitable sector began four years ago with a focus on vulnerable populations.
Having formerly served as the manager of programs and partnerships with Kids Up Front Calgary, she helped provide thousands of enriching experiences to children and families with barriers to access.
Following that, the Turner Valley resident went on to serve as the fund development and communications coordinator for the Sheep River Health Trust.
While studying up on stories of residents at the hospice, one in particular stood out to her as a shining example of the welcoming presence and care the family received.
“We actually had a story of a woman who had a stay here,” Maksymich said. “As a part of her experience here, our chef Derek Zimmer was able to surprise her with a specially made lobster dinner.
“It was able to bring back some of her wonderful memories from her childhood on the East Coast, and her family was very appreciative of that and being able to bring those cherished moments to her during her end-of-life journey.”
This year’s Western Wheel Cares campaign runs from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31 and 100 per cent of donations go to the featured charities.
In 2021, it raised a record $72,107, pushing its 10-year total to $486,389.
Each week, the Wheel will feature one of the charities receiving money from the campaign.
To donate to Western Wheel Cares, mail cheques to Box 150, Okotoks, AB, T1S 2A2 or visit Western Wheel Cares - OkotoksToday.ca.
As well, you can drop by the Wheel office at 9 McRae St. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch) weekdays or call 587-325-6234.
