Help one hospice patient for one day

Dear friend of hospice,

Today we come to you with cap in hand – with a plea to please help us keep our doors open.

As a hospice, we’ve been serving people in our community who were and are in desperate need of palliative care. Since we opened our doors in October 2013, an average of 23 hospice patients per month have died under our care – some in our In-Patient Unit and some in their own homes.

And over the years, our wonderful community has supported us through various avenues, helping us to help those facing the devastating effects of a life-limiting illness. Our policy has always been, and will always be, that palliative (hospice) care is an absolute and fundamental human right.

‘You are not alone’ is also very much a part of our ethos at Stepping Stone Hospice & Care Services. It is for this very reason that we will never turn a patient and his/her family away, regardless of whether they can afford our care or not.

However, we are suddenly faced with a nightmare situation, a real threat that we may have to close our doors as we are struggling to meet our overheads.

The reason for this is two-fold:

We applied for Lotto funding. As the process for approval of application unfolded, we became confident that we would receive the funding and we therefore budgeted for this as an income.

Then, on April 12, we received a letter advising us that the National Lottery Commission is out of budget, our application is therefore declined and we have to re-apply.

We found ourselves in a similar situation with the Department of Health – we applied for funding, but were told on April 18 that the department is out of budget and we have to re-apply.

Secondly, and quite possibly the most critical factor, we’ve had a dramatic increase in patients who simply cannot afford our care, for various reasons.

In a tough economy, medical aids and insurances are often the first items on the household budget that get cut. And we understand that. We also find that more and more elderly people whose children have left the country to seek a more secure life overseas are to a large extent dependent on us to help them during their final journey.

And more than the medical care they need, is the psycho-social care, the holding of a hand on their deathbed. And that’s what we do! Whether they can afford our care or not.

How can you help?

We strongly believe we will overcome this financial hurdle as we are in the process of restructuring and cutting down on expenses. We are awaiting the outcomes of other applications and are hopeful they will come through. The immediate threat, however, is still there and we are asking that you consider helping us – as an individual contributing towards the cost of one patient for one day in our In-Patient Unit.

We have 8 rooms in the unit – the basic costs of caring for a patient in a room per day is R1 155 – this excludes psycho-social care and medication.

We, therefore, need 248 individuals to donate R1 155 each – that will help us to look after each patient in our In-Patient Unit for a month. Furthermore, the above does not take into account the expense of the 100+ community patients seen by qualified sisters on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

Please also note we are in a position to issue you with an 18A tax certificate you can use towards income tax deduction. Our banking details are Stepping Stone Hospice, Absa, branch code: 632005, account no: 408 609 5643, ref: Patient Care

Please email proof of payment, together with your contact details and address (for 18A tax certificate purposes), to allow us to acknowledge your donation and keep you abreast of the progress made with this fund-raising effort. Address your mail to marietjie@steppingstonehospice.co.za

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for your support. Together we can help guarantee the doors of the only hospice in Alberton and the south of Johannesburg remains open.

With much love,

Tersia Burger, CEO Stepping Stone Hospice & Care Services

For free daily local news in the south, visit our sister newspapers Alberton Record, Comaro Chronicle, Southern Courier and Get it Joburg South Magazine.

Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. You can also email our offices on cvdwalt@caxton.co.za, juliem@caxton.co.za or luckyt@caxton.co.za

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