St. Croix Hospice Staff are on a Mission to Build First Pediatric Hospice Home in the Midwest

OAKDALE, Minn. - June 13, 2014 - PRLog -- This week, St. Croix Hospice employees launched a Charitable Giving and Outreach Campaign to raise funds to support the construction of a respite and hospice home for children and their families living in the Minnesota area.  The home, through an entirely grassroots community effort, will be developed on land in Chaska, MN and is called Crescent Cove, a place for kids and families (formerly Children’s Lighthouse of Minnesota and not affiliated with St. Croix Hospice).  There are currently no respite and hospice facilities specifically for children located in Minnesota or the surrounding states.  “Our goal through this campaign is to raise a significant amount of money and awareness for pediatric end-of-life care in order to ensure that our kids in Minnesota have a safe place to go for respite, specialty resources, and hospice care.  This building and the services that will be provided there will fill a huge void in our current healthcare environment,” says Nathan Grove, Executive Director of Business Operations for St. Croix Hospice.

Crescent Cove (formerly Children’s Lighthouse of MN) was founded by Katie Lindenfelser in 2009 based on her experiences as a Music Therapist working with hospitalized and home-care pediatric patients.  Dismayed by the lack of supportive services for children at the end-of-life, and the existence of homes like this in other countries, Katie felt compelled to establish a center of specialized care that could better meet kids' needs.

Today, there are more than 9,000 children living with a life-threatening condition in Minnesota alone.  These children and their families have limited resources, both materially and financially, to face the very complex and diverse demands that their health conditions present.  This is especially true at the end-of-life when specialized, supportive care is needed to help families navigate their way through heightened spiritual and emotional questions and physical needs.  Unfortunately, though abundant in the Minnesota area, adult hospice programs are not equipped to manage these specialized challenges and often, regrettably, must turn these families away from service during a sensitive and vulnerable time when the support of hospice is needed the most.

St. Croix Hospice employees will be taking part in a number of team fundraising initiatives over the coming months including the Twin Cities Marathon this fall.  More than 50 staff members, family, and friends are planning to run in one of the marathon weekend events on behalf of this mission.