JARVIS—The Norfolk Haldimand Community Hospice (NHCH) has been looking for the right place to call home for their planned 10-bed centre for hospice palliative care – and local retired businessman Alan Williamson is hoping to answer that need by donating 10 acres of land.
Williamson called the property very accessible and a serene setting. It is located on the outskirts of Jarvis and would front onto Nanticoke Creek Parkway. There are five acres of open land that could potentially be utilized for the centre and another five of wooded space.
“The hospice can use that for things like walking trails or putting benches out there for sitting for people who are utilizing the hospice. It offers a serene setting out in the country. I think that’s what they’re looking for,” said Williamson in an interview with The Press. “That’s really what people at the end of their life want – they like to go out there where things are a little slower and quieter and end your life in a setting like that.”
Asked what inspired him to make the generous donation, Williamson replied, “The short answer is because I can, and it’s a very needed cause in Norfolk and Haldimand. I don’t say that to be smug. ‘I can’ meaning I have, I believe, the right piece of land situated in the right location, as close to the centre of the two counties as possible.”
The proposed hospice will feature amenities for caregivers and a workspace for healthcare professionals and volunteers, with an estimated cost of $14 million.
The hospice is expected to accommodate over 100 residents annually, plus an additional 200 individuals in grief and bereavement programs. It will be designed with future expansion in mind to meet the growing needs of the community.
NHCH Executive Director Andrea Binkle said the planned hospice will fill a much-needed gap in both Haldimand and Norfolk.
“A hospice can help individuals while they’re ill and help their family in dealing with the grief and loss of their loved one. As the individual declines further, instead of them dying in a home, a hospice residence allows them to go and live in a home-like environment, their families can come and go, some families stay overnight,” she explained.
Each of the planned 10 beds will be housed in individual, “hotel-like” rooms, staffed with 24-hour support from a team of nurses, physicians, and volunteers. The philosophy is that by providing the care, “families can be families,” according to Binkle. “It helps individuals at end of life to manage and cope with the process of somebody losing their life.”
She said often families can struggle in such times: “It’s hard work. You want to do everything you can for your loved one, but some of their physical needs are greater than what you’ve ever been taught to manage or cope with before.”
Binkle is excited by the Williamson property, and the opportunity it presents to provide care in a familiar setting.
“People want to look out the windows and see what they’ve always seen, their community. They don’t want to be in a city looking at apartment buildings and things around them,” she said. “They want to see farmlands; they want to see nature.”
While early in the process, NHCH is already working with an architectural firm to create a vision of what they want the hospice, once completed, to look and feel like.
“We don’t want a great big healthcare facility look and feel in a farming community. It can’t stand out like a sore thumb – it has to blend into the culture and tone of the counties,” said Binkle. “We don’t want it to be wasteful dollars, something that stands out and appears like it’s trying to be a big castle or something. We just want to make sure it fits well.”
Integral to the process is a good working relationship with Haldimand County.
“I can honestly say the interaction we’ve had with the County … they’ve been very, very co-operative and helpful. I truly believe they’ll be that way going forward. Kudos to Haldimand County so far,” said Williamson.
Binkle added, “We’re working with the County on what’s needed to actually confirm the property is the right property for building on. It has to be severed from the 100-acres it’s sitting on now and has to be zoned for a facility like a hospice. All of that will take some time.”
Binkle said that fundraising efforts were proceeding well, with many donations rolling in from the community, including $37,012.47 from the recent Vagina Open Charitable Classic golf tournament in October.
“We’re in the midst of looking at the 2025 budget and how we could be raising capital dollars to support the hospice centre and residence,” explained Binkle. “At the same time, we have to manage operating costs, as we have programs that are serving individuals already in the community, in group sessions, in homes, through grief and bereavement support.”
Williamson hopes the hospice might stand as a legacy for his family, who have owned and lived on the 100-acre lot for more than a century.
“This has been a family farm,” he said. “My grandfather had it, my father was born here, started a business here, I’ve lived my whole life here. My father just passed away last May and we were kind of starting to talk about this project before he passed away, so that legacy comes from his legacy.”
Binkle concluded, “We are excited about this opportunity and look forward to working with the community and Council to bring this vision to life. We are very grateful for Mr. Williamson’s generous donation. We believe that having a designated location will catalyze support throughout our communities.”
