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PLATTSBURGH — Hospice of the North Country is launching a capital campaign designed to underwrite the costs of building a permanent headquarters, now under construction on Tom Miller Road.
Under the banner Home for Hospice and headed by an all-volunteer committee of regional citizens, the one-time fund drive is seeking $500,000 to complete the 3,500-square-foot structure in time for use by early spring of this year.
A secondary but no less important goal, organizers say, is to leave the organization with no mortgage burden.
A fixture in Clinton and northern Franklin counties for nearly 20 years, Hospice strives to provide high-quality, compassionate end-of-life care to patients and families dealing with terminal illness.
Before this project, Hospice staff in Clinton County never had a fixed base of operations.
"We're off to a great start," Hospice Chief Executive Officer Kent Brooks said in a news release. "Thanks to the generosity of a local property owner, we were able to acquire the site at one-half fair market value. Thereafter, building-supply merchants and contractors stepped forward to provide some materials and the labor we needed to begin construction.
"However, the bills are piling up as the project moves forward, and it is clear that we are far short of the amount required to end it successfully."
The Hospice campaign, which will continue until May 1, will include a direct-mail appeal to more than 10,000 community residents and supporters, along with an educational effort that will include presentations to civic, fraternal and religious groups.
"We are very much aware that we have plenty of competition for donor dollars at the present time from a variety of worthy charities," Brooks said in the statement, "but this effort cannot be delayed for obvious reasons."
He said Hospice is "putting its faith in the people of the North Country — whose benevolence is renowned — with the knowledge that our services and reputation are both widely known and genuinely appreciated by most."
Hospice has provided no-cost, end-of-life care to more than 2,700 patients since its establishment in 1991.
Its nurses specialize in pain care and symptom management. They take samples for lab analysis, oversee medical and supply needs and provide personal care, education and around-the clock registered-nurse support when needed. They will also coordinate funeral-home arrangements at time of death.
Of 266 patients served regionally in the last 12 months, 62 percent were from Clinton County and 38 percent were from Franklin County.
Slightly more than one-half of Hospice patients suffer from cancer. The rest have end-of-life illnesses such as heart disease, lung disease, dementia, stroke, liver and kidney disease and end-stage debility and decline.
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