BERLIN – Motorists in the area can now get updates on the campaign to build Coastal Hospice at the Ocean. Thermometer signs, announcing fundraising progress and inviting donations, are going up along well-traveled roadways across Worcester and Wicomico counties.
As the thermometers show, gifts and commitments to the project so far total $3 million. The campaign goal to build Coastal Hospice at the Ocean is $5 million. The signs will be updated as progress toward the goal continues.
The campaign committee, a team of volunteers led by Coastal Hospice Board members Macky Stansell and Dirk Widdowson, has been meeting privately with individuals, corporations and foundations in the region to secure support for Coastal Hospice at the Ocean. With the help of donations, the Coastal Hospice Board purchased property in Berlin for the project.
Coastal Hospice at the Ocean is a hospice residence and outreach center that will serve the region in three vital ways. It will be a home for hospice patients, who live alone or with an equally frail spouse and can no longer manage day-to-day.
There will be a center for community-based palliative care: support, for those battling serious illness, in managing the physical, emotional and spiritual pain it often brings. In addition, there will be room for individual and group grief counseling
Coastal Hospice at the Ocean will meet all of these needs. But at its heart, this will be a home. Each patient room will be outfitted to respond to medical needs, but it will look and feel like home. The building will be surrounded by gardens. Inside, individual rooms will provide privacy yet accommodate family members who need to stay overnight. A kitchen and family room offer places to gather for family celebrations; a library and meditation room will accommodate quieter moments.
Information about the hospice residence and outreach center can be found at CoastalHospice.org/Ocean or by calling 410-641-5481.
Founded in 1980, Coastal Hospice is a nonprofit health care organization that cares for individuals facing life-limiting conditions but who want to remain as active and engaged as possible. Coastal Hospice cares for patients in their home, nursing home, assisted living facility or at Coastal Hospice at the Lake. The organization serves Wicomico, Worcester, Dorchester and Somerset counties.