Fort Erie to provide additional $100K for Hospice Niagara build

When residents at the newly built Hospice Niagara location in Fort Erie spend time in the internal therapeutic garden, they’ll have the residents, local Lions Club members, and taxpayers of the town to thank.

Councillors voted to approach additional funding the organization sought to help it pay for the second of two internal gardens. They did so at the April 28 council meeting following a presentation by Hospice Niagara executive director Carol Nagy.

“It provides them an opportunity to take a breath, to take a moment,” Nagy said, about the two planned gardens.

The new location in Fort Erie, called the Willson House, is expected to open next to Gilmore Lodge in late 2026 and provide 10 beds for the people of Fort Erie and Niagara.

Nagy said it’ll be an “integrated community of care,” and said that in discussions during planning they found a desire to bring the outdoors inside. Limited space on the property also makes the internal gardens more needed.

“It was very important to people living here, and the Indigenous community, that they feel that the outside comes into the building,” Nagy said, adding even people who are bedbound will be able to make use of the internal gardens.

One of the internal courtyard gardens is thanks to the Ridgeway Lions, who secured $250,000 in fundraising and support from the District A-2 Lions club as well as the Lions International Foundation.

The Town had already committed $150,000 to the build, and Monday’s vote to add another $100,000 means the municipality will be providing a matching $250,000. As such, one of the gardens will be named in honour of the Lions Club and the other in honour of the municipality.

“This is a fantastic project for the municipality,” said Mayor Wayne Redekop.

Since the Fort Erie build is part of a wide expansion by Hospice Niagara and supports people across the region, Councillor Ann-Marie Noyes asked if other towns and cities in Niagara have offered up their support.

Nagy said they’re still in discussions with some municipalities but overall called the response positive.

An agenda item in the consent portion recommended the additional funding request be referred to 2026 budget deliberations. Nagy said if the decision was pushed to budget deliberations it might require Hospice Niagara to take out a loan to cover the costs.

Instead, councillors pulled the consent item and voted to use money in the community health and wellness reserve.

Fundraising efforts are continuing for Hospice Niagara. For more information on donating can be found by visiting hospiceniagara.ca.

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