Make Every Day Count

Thanks to donors like you, we opened our doors to Edmonton’s first free-standing hospice in February – but we still need your support to continue our work. Your donation ensures a unique and dignified end-of-life care experience for people in our community – like Cynthia Dekker, a resident who was cared for at the Roozen Family Hospice Centre.

Cynthia spent decades taking care of people she loved and now it was her time to be taken care of.

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Cynthia was suffering from kidney cancer and facing the end of her life when she and her family made the decision to go to Hospice. Before this, she had lived with her son Nathan, a full-time Registered Nurse, for nine weeks. As time went on, Cynthia needed more care than her son could provide.

Although uncertain about what hospice would be like, Cynthia was awestruck the first time she visited the Roozen Family Hospice Centre.

“She cried through most of the tour,” says Nathan. The brand-new, beautifully appointed building felt more like a high-end resort than a palliative care facility to Cynthia, who had lived a life of modest means.

“Mom’s first question was, ‘How much will all of this cost?’ ” he says. Thanks to the generosity of donors like you, Cynthia was able to spend her final days at Pilgrims without spending a single cent.

Your help is needed to continue offering high-quality hospice palliative care at no cost to our families.

Only 3% of our income comes from the government, so Pilgrims Hospice Society lacks the stable public funding that organizations like ours enjoy. Each bed costs $500 per day to operate versus $1,300+ a day in an acute care facility.

By donating today, you can make a difference in the life of someone like Cynthia.

Cynthia was able to find enjoyment in our closely knit Pilgrims’ community. She looked forward to art projects, musical performances, a weekly massage, and comforting baths. She loved when her children and grandchildren visited, and put the hospice cuddle bed in her room to good use.

It was a relief to everyone that Cynthia was in a caring and safe environment— and even enjoying her days. For decades, Cynthia had juggled the demands of parenting (she has three biological and fi ve foster children), full-time work, Christian missionary work, and volunteering at church. She worked constantly, and as her son Nathan notes, money was always tight: “There were times when she couldn’t even aff ord a haircut.”

“We visited almost every day,” says Nathan recalling how his children would beg to visit “Nana’s House.” From the beginning, the Roozen Family Hospice Centre was a warm and welcoming place not just for his mom, but everyone else in the family: “It feels like home. It doesn’t feel like an institution.”

Life was never easy — and never had been. As a child growing up on a Saskatchewan farm, Cynthia was busy with farm chores, caring for younger siblings, and going to school. She began to take solace in music (she was a self-taught pianist) and her faith.

Finally, it was Cynthia’s turn to be cared for, but daughter Amy says it took some time to adjust to the role reversal. What came more naturally to her big-hearted mother was befriending other Residents, volunteers, and staff : “The staff told us that for as much as she was their Resident, she wanted to support them, too.”

Amy says her mom had many heart-to-heart conversations with staff members — sometimes, on spiritual matters. And until the very end, Cynthia was quick to make others laugh, she says: “Her humour was right out of this world.”

Cynthia died peacefully in mid-September, after four quality months at the Roozen Family Hospice Centre. “That little twinkle in her eye never left,” says Amy.

Please donate today. Your help is still needed to provide cost free care for loved ones in our community. Now is the time to give!

If you have already given, I thank you for your support.

Thank you for reading Cynthia’s story. On behalf of the Residents and their loved ones, staff and volunteers, we are so grateful for your generosity.