Compassion Blooms campaign supports new Fort Erie hospice

Hospice Niagara is asking Fort Erie residents to join its new Compassion Blooms campaign, a memorial fundraiser that also supports the ongoing operating costs of Willson House, the 10-bed hospice set to open in January.

The campaign invites residents to submit written tributes honouring loved ones or people living with serious illness. Donations accompany the messages, which are displayed as floral installations at Hospice Niagara’s St. Catharines and Welland locations.

Construction of Hospice Niagara’s new Fort Erie location on King Street has entered its interior phase, with the building’s exterior and roof expected to finish within weeks.

Carol Nagy, executive director of Hospice Niagara, told Fort Erie Radio the organization receives provincial funding covering roughly 60 per cent of clinical staffing costs, while the remaining 40 per cent is raised through community donations.

“There might be some that say, ‘Your building’s built, why do we have to keep on giving?’ Well, because we’re not fully funded,” said Nagy. “Long-term care and hospital staff are all fully funded, but we’re not.”

Nagy said a common misconception is that fundraising ends once the new hospice building is complete, and she wants Fort Erie donors to understand that operating costs will continue after construction.

Workers are currently completing flooring and interior systems, with outdoor landscaping scheduled for the fall. Interior finishing work in December will prepare the building for patients and families.

“The building will be completed in December, and then we’ll be busy trying to put all the finishing touches on it to make it feel safe and cozy and like a home setting for everybody, and then opening up in January,” said Nagy.

Willson House will include 10 residential beds and dedicated space for bereavement and caregiver programming. Community consultations shaped several design decisions, including interior courtyards accessible to residents, visitors and program participants.

“In Fort Erie, we heard from the community a really strong connection to nature and, of course, to the river,” said Nagy.

Nagy said the Compassion Blooms campaign also carries a grief-support purpose. Floral displays at existing hospice locations carry personal messages that greet families entering the buildings.

“People who are coming in may be experiencing that loss for the first time or again in the hospice residences,” said Nagy.

Hospice Niagara reported roughly 500 residents awaiting care on any given day as of last fall’s groundbreaking.

A fourth hospice in Niagara Falls is also in planning.

Residents can visit hospiceniagara.ca/blooms to participate in Compassion Blooms at.

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