Healing Garden Planned At

 Hospice Bereavement Center

DANBURY — Regional Hospice of Western CT, Inc, has received an award of $15,000 from the Albert W. and Helen C. Meserve Memorial Fund. The funds will be used to create a Healing Garden on the site of Regional Hospice’s new Bereavement Center at 73 Stadley Rough Road in Danbury.

Regional Hospice founded its original Children and Families Bereavement Center in 1995. At the time, it was one of only a few in the state specifically designed to address the special needs of children. The Bereavement Center occupied dedicated space within the Regional Hospice office at 30 West Street in Danbury, which it quickly outgrew as the result of the program’s growth and demand for its services.

In 1999, Regional Hospice leased a building and property at the Stadley Rough location from the City of Danbury to accommodate the program’s expanding needs. The agency then launched a community-wide campaign to fund renovations and design costs that would make the location suitable and appropriate for the needs of the Children and Families Bereavement Program.

The Meserve Award marks the final step of the two-year remodeling project. The Healing Garden will create a soothing and peaceful background for the Bereavement Center and to strengthen nature’s connection to the healing process.

The Bereavement Center, newly named “Healing Hearts,” assists parents, caregivers, children, and the community to approach death and grief with sensitivity and understanding. It provides a caring atmosphere where pain, anger, and confusion can be discussed, and children and their families may learn the necessary skills to work through the anguish of losing a loved one. Healing Hearts is scheduled to open in September of this year. For program and enrollment information, call the Regional Hospice Office at 797-1685.