Jessica's House
 

Our History


In January 2016 the South Huron Hospital Foundation embarked on a research mission to identify what exists for Hospice and Bereavement Services in the community of South Huron. In March 2016 the Board of the South Huron Foundation passed the following motion: 

“That the South Huron Hospital Foundation Board make the provision of palliative care resources for families in South Huron including but not limited to the creation of a small local hospice the purpose of our 2016 Gala fundraising efforts.” 

Local residents, the Bean Family have donated a parcel of land located at the south end of Exeter, contingent upon building a residential hospice on this property by 2021. 

At the 2016 South Huron Hospital Foundation Gala, $262,000 was raised for Jessica’s House. Since that time, a number of local events have voluntarily stepped forward to donate the proceeds from their events to this project bringing the current total raised to over $2,500,000.00 Jessica’s House has caught the hearts and minds of the South Huron community. 

The Steering Committee and the Hospital Foundation are working towards a goal to enrich the health services of South Huron. The generosity of Gary and Ellen Bean in providing land for Jessica’s House is truly remarkable. “Each day, thanks to people like the Bean family, we are getting closer to our vision for Jessica’s House”, advises Deb Homuth, Co-Chair of the Steering Committee. “We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of individuals, families, organizations and businesses who have opened their hearts to this project over the last months. Together we can and we will build Jessica’s House. 

Jessica's House has a very special meaning for the community, named in honour of 22 year old Jessica Hamather who lost her life in 2015 to an extremely rare cancer. Maria Hamather, former Co-Chair of the Steering Committee believes that this community hospice is an important goal for South Huron. "Our family fully supports the plans to create a beautiful residential hospice in South Huron, providing much needed support for families during a difficult time. We are proud to work on this project with the South Huron Hospital Foundation and we know Jessica would have loved this wonderful and peaceful space. We are thankful to the Bean Family for this generous commitment to make Jessica’s House a reality, and to our amazing community for all of its support”. 

April 2017 we celebrated with a sod turning ceremony, we hired a project manager – Oke Woodsmith and began to prepare for the tendering process. Acting as our own General Contractor and with the support of Oke Woodsmith we accepted a multitude of generous gift in kind offers from our successful vendors and June 23, 2017 we had our building permit in hand. The Municipality of South Huron helped us negotiate the complex process of necessary by-law and zoning requirements and the week of June 26 we broke ground on the site!