VNA Respite House Capital Campaign

Dear Colleagues,

Below you will find an explanation of the upcoming rebirth of the Vermont Respite House. The VNA is anxious to have the NP community engaged and knowledgeable about in this project. Many of you have referred to Respite House over the years and the hope is that Respite House will continue to be a wonderful resource for your patients.

Please consider joining other NPs at an Open House on the afternoon of September 12 at the site of the new Respite House, on Route 7, past Severance Corners, in Colchester. Also, please consider a gift to the project.

Rosemary

Rosemary Dale, APRN
Board member
Visiting Nurse Association

An Open Letter to Nurse Practitioners

Since Respite House opened its doors in 1991, nearly 3,000 individuals, as well as their families and friends, have experienced the loving and uniquely personal care and homey atmosphere of Vermont's only hospice home. Nurse Practitioners are an integral part of the healthcare community. You refer to and support the work of Respite House. This letter is to request your support.

At the VNA, we see a growing need to care for even more neighbors and family members in the coming years. We estimate that 10,000 people will be cared for at Respite House in the next 20 years. That is why we are building a new Respite House on a wooded 25-acre site in Colchester. The McClure Miller VNA Respite House will serve 21 residents in larger rooms more conducive to providing the ever more complex care needed by our residents and will offer additional space for families to gather to celebrate and support their loved ones and to comfort one another during such a difficult time.

We are often reminded of a staff person or volunteer who made a resident's stay at Respite House extra special by making them a milkshake for dinner, or making the bed with sheets that matched the color of someone's favorite nightgown. Maybe a volunteer sat with a brother or sister when a sibling wasn't able to be by the bedside. At every turn, residents received the personalized and loving care which is the hallmark of Respite House. And we pledge going forward that the same heart and commitment will be present in the care given to every resident in the last months, weeks and days of their life at the new McClure Miller VNA Respite House.

We ask you to consider a gift in support of the $8.6 million VNA Respite House Capital Campaign. Doing so will help us to keep this unique and essential resource available to the many people with terminal illness and their friends and families who will need its special care in the decades to come.

Respite House has been here to serve your patients for almost 25 years, please help prepare for the next 25 years. Donations can be made via:

https://www.vnacares.org/hospice-care/vermont-respite-house/#