Despite our current hospice services, which serve 225 families per day, a major void remains in our region for those who require a place of shelter at the end of life. A void that we can no longer ignore.

For Sally Aldrich, administrator and chief nursing officer of hospice & palliative care, this void was never more visible than when she visited a man named Jesse.

Jesse’s Story

Everyone called to Hospice work experiences one patient whose story marks a turning point for them. Jesse Evans was mine. I met Jesse when I went out with our chaplain to make a nursing visit. What I found was a dilapidated, wooden shotgun house without air conditioning. Clothes, trash and bugs were everywhere. Jesse lay on filthy sheets, with only a T-shirt and boxers on, needing a shave and a bath. His abdomen was swollen from his terminal disease.

What I also saw was Jesse’s smile. Abandoned long ago by his family because of his alcoholism, Jesse’s only companions were his drinking buddies who hung around at the house on and off, and his Hospice team. This team was made up of nurses to keep him comfortable, chaplains who prayed with him and social workers who helped keep food on the table, although he didn’t eat much anymore. The team also included home health aides who lovingly, gently bathed him and tried to find clean sheets for his bed. 

Jesse lived with Hospice care, in that hot little shack, for only a couple of months that summer.  Months later, at our annual Christmas Memory Tree Reception, after memorial ornaments had been placed on the tree by families who had lost someone they loved, one of our home health aides quietly stepped forward. She had a small satin ornament in her hand with the words “Jesse Evans” written in gold glitter. She placed it on the tree with great care and said, “I just want someone to remember him.”

I look for that ornament each year and have one wish for Jesse. If I could have changed one thing, it would be to give him the dignity of simple comfort in his surroundings. A room of his own, clean sheets on his bed, cool air, a sunny window and no trash or roaches.

A Hospice Residence.

Methodist Hospice Residence would be a place that could provide dignity, grace and care in the midst of a terminal illness. A place for all those of this community that Hospice encounters each and every day; patients with no one to care for them, no home to return to, or with symptoms too complex for the family to manage in the home. A residence can become the beacon in our community representing the very best care at the end of life – the very best of us as human beings. It is our work made real and visible. A place for all the Jesses we care for.

To help us build the hospice residence, please visit Donate Now or call 901.516.0503 for more information.