ROANOKE, Va. – Good Samaritan Hospice has received a massive grant to aid in its mission to help hospice patients around the Roanoke Valley.
“This is a monumental event for us, so I am a little emotional and I am going to apologize in advance,” Aaron Housh, CEO of Good Samaritan Hospice said.
The $500,000 grant is going towards their future in-patient hospice building called The Center of Caring.
Representatives of Good Samaritan, or “Good Sam,” say this donation pushed them past the halfway mark of their five-million dollar goal.
“Our goal was to raise five million dollars in our capital campaign. This 500,000-dollar gift takes us past the halfway mark. So we are now at 2.6 million dollars.”
CEO of the Community Foundation Alan Ronk said that choosing to work with Good Samaritan Hospice was never a debate.
“It was really clear to us this was something the community foundation ought to be involved with,” Ronk said.
The building is expected to have 16 private patient rooms for end-of-life care.
The project hit a major milestone during the event by laying the foundation for the in-patient rooms
“We’re excited to see construction underway, we’re really hoping within the next year to complete the project.”
“This is a huge deal. This is a monumental day not just for good sam but also for the Roanoke and New River Valleys. We will be able to serve patients in a way that is currently not available.”
With construction already underway, Housh said they are hoping they can have the hospice center open and operating by this time next year,