The State Employees Credit Union Foundation has committed $1 million to the construction of the Crystal Coast Hospice House (CCHH), a Capital Development Services’ campaign client. With this gift, the largest yet in the campaign, CCHH has raised over $2.7 million in gifts, grants and pledges for the ten-bed inpatient facility which will be located in Newport, NC.
“Our Foundation Board members reviewed the request from CCHH and the map illustrating the tremendous need for an inpatient hospice facility in the community,” said Mark Twisdale, Executive Director of the SECU Foundation. “The Crystal Coast Hospice House clearly fills a need to serve Carteret, Onslow, Craven, Pamlico and Jones Counties; and the community is deeply engaged in the project.”
“This donation fits with the mission of the SECU Foundation which acts on behalf of its members,” said Shirley Bell, Chairman of the Foundation Board. “The need for the Crystal Coast Hospice House is obvious, and the SECU Foundation is pleased to be a significant partner in filling this void.”
The SECU Foundation promotes local and community development by primarily funding high impact projects in the areas of housing, education, healthcare and human services. Chartered by the State Employees’ Credit Union, the Foundation to identifies and addresses issues in the community that are beyond the normal scope of the Credit Union and strives to embody the Credit Union’s philosophy of “People Helping People”. With 1.7 million members, the Credit Union is able to significantly impact the communities it serves through grants from the SECU Foundation.
“It is a tremendous honor to receive such a generous gift from the members of the State Employees’ Credit Union. A gift of this magnitude demonstrates the notable need our community has for the inpatient hospice facility,” said Sarah Strange, president of the Crystal Coast Hospice House. “We are overjoyed at the news.”
The Crystal Coast Hospice House is a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization that was formed in 2008 with the mission to build and support the first inpatient hospice facility on the Crystal Coast. The facility will provide a home-like atmosphere for hospice patients whose symptoms can no longer be managed at home.
“Hospice houses have become a standard of care that is available to most residents in North Carolina and, indeed, around the country,” said Dale Britt, Capital Campaign Co-Chair for CCHH. “It will be wonderful for our neighbors, families and friends along the Crystal Coast to have access to such a facility locally,” he added. “This gift takes us so much closer to opening the doors to the SECU Crystal Coast Hospice House.”
The hospice house will be situated on an 11-acre site at the corner of Chatham St. and McQueen Ave. in Newport. It will provide residential-style living areas, exterior gardens and spacious private patient suites that can accommodate overnight stays by loved ones. The hospice house will also feature sun porches and sun rooms, a combined family kitchen and dining room, outdoor dining terraces and a screened porch.
The SECU Foundation funds will be released to CCHH once the State approves the Certificate of Need application and construction is 50 percent complete. Certificate of Need approval is anticipated in January 2012.
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