Tidewell Hospice Opens Tidewell Family Grief Center in Ellenton With VIP Event and Community Open House
The events celebrated the official opening of the first-of-its-kind facility
Tidewell Hospice hosted a VIP event and community open house to celebrate the opening of the new Tidewell Family Grief Center in Ellenton. The events marked the official opening of the new facility that will help people of all ages grieving in our community.
During the VIP event Thursday, Sept. 23, Jonathan Fleece, president and CEO of Tidewell Hospice and president of Empath Health, along with Debbie Mason, president of the Tidewell Foundation, participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Together, they shared Tidewell’s commitment to serving the Manatee and Sarasota region through the Tidewell Family Grief Center’s mission and its world-class standard of care. On Sept. 24, the community was invited to tour the facility and experience firsthand how the Tidewell Family Grief Center will be able to help those grieving, especially during the pandemic.
The Tidewell Family Grief Center in Ellenton is a first-of-its-kind facility in our region that provides holistic grief support for individuals, families and the community. The Ellenton location will serve as a pilot for future Tidewell Family Grief Centers across the region. A $1.1 million capital grant from the Tidewell Foundation, including a lead gift from the Eppard Family Foundation, transformed Tidewell’s former Ellenton Hospice House into the Tidewell Family Grief Center.
Tidewell Hospice provides free grief services for more than 8,000 people in our region each year. The Tidewell Family Grief Center in Ellenton gives people in our community access to opportunities to meet their grief needs, whether through one-on-one sessions, groups, art therapy, meditation or alternative therapies.
The Tidewell Family Grief Center also hosts a new expansion of Tidewell’s Blue Butterfly program, the region’s only evidence-based grief program for children ages 5-18 and families who have experienced the loss of a parent, sibling or another significant person in their lives. Tidewell Hospice’s not-for-profit grief and bereavement services — including the Tidewell Family Grief Center — are 100 percent donor supported through contributions to the Tidewell Foundation and offered for free to members of our community, whether or not their loved one was a Tidewell patient.
To learn more about the services provided at the Tidewell Family Grief Center in Ellenton, please contact Callie Weber at 941-894-1794 or cweber@tidewell.org.
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About Tidewell Hospice
Tidewell Hospice is an independent, not-for-profit health provider offering a home-centered, comprehensive system of end of life and palliative care for people living with advanced illness and their families. Annually, Tidewell provides care for nearly 10,000 patients throughout its four-county service area of Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties. Hospice houses and offices are located in Arcadia, Bradenton, Englewood, Lakewood Ranch, Palmetto, Port Charlotte, Sarasota and Venice. As the region’s only not-for-profit hospice, Tidewell relies on donor contributions to provide a number of its acclaimed patient and community services. Tidewell is accredited by the Community Health Accreditation Partner (CHAP) with deemed status, signifying excellent care and meeting Medicare’s conditions of participation.
About Tidewell Foundation, Inc.
The Tidewell Foundation, Inc. is an independent 501 (c) (3) charitable foundation established to ensure perpetual philanthropic support to Tidewell Hospice and its family of healthcare companies. Charitable contributions to the Tidewell Foundation sustain and grow the critically important programs and services provided through the not-for-profit mission of Tidewell Hospice and its affiliates. Donor-funded programs offer compassion and comfort to those who need it most in our community by caring for all, regardless of their ability to pay. It starts with generosity and is paid forward with every patient connection, family served and life changed. Discover how each donation strengthens our community; learn more by visiting tidewellfoundation.org.
