20 Oct Announcing the Friends of Cicely Saunders Legacy Society

We are pleased to announce the establishment of Friends of Cicely Saunders. At the encouragement of several people who have named BAH as a beneficiary in their will, BAH has created a legacy program named after Cicely Saunders who is considered to be the founder of the hospice and palliative care movements.

For over forty years, BAH has been serving our community by providing caring support for the dying and their family members, and for those who are grieving a loss. We also provide assistance and education to all our community members who are interested in completing their Advance Directive, which specifies preferences and choices for important end-of-life medical and spiritual decisions. Our programs expanded last year to include spiritual care for all our clients, as well as our volunteers.

Because BAH is one of the few hospices in the country that does not bill clients or third parties for services, utilizing instead a committed roster of dedicated volunteers for whom they provide training, we rely on the generosity of community members to ensure that their programs will continue onward in perpetuity. BAH serves clients long before they become eligible for Medicare hospice services; supports caregivers in their responsibilities; and continues support beyond death, during the grieving process.

Those who join the Friends of Cicely Saunders will be gifting all of Windham County with a generous commitment to a future where the needs of the dying and grieving will be responsibly and sensitively met, entirely free of charge to all. The Friends of Cicely Saunders also occupy a foundational role in the future security of an organization whose grassroots beginnings reflect the values of personal attention, comfort, and assistance at the time when they are most needed.

Over the years, legacy funds have enabled the organization to grow in ways it could not have otherwise dreamed: purchasing our beautiful office building on Canal Street; rebuilding and expanding our Memorial Garden at Living Memorial Park; enabling the establishment of our ACP (Advance Care Planning) program; funding expenses for capital improvements. BAH would not be where it is today without the help of those who named them as a beneficiary in their estate.

One of our Friends, Muriel Wolf, who has made a bequest to BAH in her will, said, “The clients and families I’ve met over the years offer the most beautiful testimonies of what our care means to them. Hundreds of folks in our community have been trained as volunteers by BAH over the past four decades, and the care they have provided has not only helped their neighbors, it has changed their lives and their perspective of life’s end.  When I try to imagine our town without the presence of Brattleboro Area Hospice, I feel bereft. Generosity is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and knowing that my generosity extends outward to those it can benefit, beyond my own life span, is a fabulous feeling.”

Brattleboro Area Hospice invites the community to join Muriel in becoming a Friend and ensuring their legacy. We welcome inquiries and interest as we honor Cicely Saunders for her groundbreaking work in humanizing the experience of dying, as well as teaching us that we can live in comfort until that moment arrives.  For more information about the Legacy Society, contact Ellen Smith, Development Director, at 802-257-0775 ext. 109, or ellen.smith@brattleborohospice.org.