Construction has started for the $4.9 million SECU Hospice House of Western North Carolina in Franklin.
The new structure will be the first inpatient hospice for residence of the state’s six far western counties.
The State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) Foundation provided a $40,000 capacity building grant to help the Hospice House Foundation of Western NC assess their strengths and build a financial plan to help them achieve their dream of building a hospice home, and also a $1 million challenge grant for facility construction.
North Carolina has more than 38 inpatient hospice facilities throughout the state, but none in the six counties west of Asheville and Hendersonville, which include Macon, Jackson, Swain, Graham, Clay, and Cherokee.
“This is such an exciting day for the Hospice House Foundation of WNC and the residents of our six area counties, including the Qualla Boundary-Cherokee Reservation,” says Hospice House foundation chair Michele Alderson. “Breaking ground on the SECU Hospice House has been a while in the making and we feel blessed that it is finally here. We would like to thank SECU members and the SECU Foundation for all their generous support and all they do for our state.”