United Hospice Breaks Ground on County's First Hospice House

Tin or aluminum is the traditional 10th wedding anniversary gift, but Tess McCormack Raso and Joe Raso received quite a bit of dirt on the eve of their 10th anniversary.

On Tuesday, the two donned yellow hard hats and used shovels with bowties to repeatedly dig up a small portion of dirt next to a house on Buena Vista Road in New City. They were just two of many people to get up and speak at the groundbreaking ceremony on United Hospice of Rockland's Joe Raso Hospice Home, which will be Rockland County's first hospice house.

The Raso's were the first to get a chance to dig up some dirt, as well as have the home bear their name, thanks to their $2.5 million donation to build the home.

"We're onto something really good here with the hospice," Joe Raso said after the ceremony.

During their speech, Raso also said he'd put up another $150,000 if United Hospice could secure another $150,000 in donations. To date, the hospice has received $5.7 million in donations, but has a goal of $6 million, so Raso's next donation would be to help United Hospice fully reach its goal.

"This is our child," Tess McCormack Raso said in front of a crowd of 80-plus people at the hospice house site.

She is the also the chair of United Hospice, working with the organization for the past 15 years. Actually, when the board first brought up the idea of looking into building a hospice home, opposed to only providing care at houses or nursing homes, Executive Director Amy Stern told the board they wouldn't pursue the project unless they unanimously agreed to it. The only board member who didn't want to build the home was McCormack.

She got started with United Hospice after her first husband received hospice care before dying of cancer and saw the kind of care they provided for the sick. But it was something he said to her that led to her initial stance against a hospice home.

"He said to me, 'I want to die with dignity in my home,'" McCormack said. "So I told the board we couldn't take that away from people by building a house."

She changed her mind thanks to Milton Koja, a blind singer and multi-instrumental musician she was friends with. A few years back, Koja became sick and McCormack had to rethink her stance about the hospice house.

"What about people whose spouses are too old to care for them, or are all alone?" she said. "Milton and his dog weren't going to be able to get by in his apartment. So I went back to board and asked to reopen the discussion."

It was about six years ago when the board all agreed to start the planning of a hospice hose, and Stern said group members must've looked at around 200 different properties before finding the 11 acres in New City.

"Some were too small, others were too close to major roads or too far from our office [on Stokum Lane in New City]," Stern said. "When we got here, we knew right away this was the perfect place."

Stern said the board "stumbled upon" the location. They found a tiny ad in a newspaper with only a picture of the tiny white house on the property, but noting it had 11 acres of land. Stern said they went to look at it to check it out.

The site has greenery in every direction, and even has a large pond. The plan calls for some walking paths and gardens, as well. The building will be behind the white house at the end of a long driveway and facing opposite of Buena Vista Road.

"We just want it to have as much as a secluded feeling as we can," Stern said.

The tiny white house will stay right where it is, Stern said, and will be used to house an on-sight caretaker for the property.

"We want to disturb as little of the setting as possible," Stern said. "The reason this property is perfect is because of the setting, and all the trees and how beautiful it is here. We're going to try and keep as much of the setting intact as we possibly can."

The plan calls for a u-shaped building approximately 10,000 square feet that is expected to treat 70-93 patients a year. There will be numerous amenities for patients, including:

• About 10 private suites with space for visiting family, as well as furniture for overnight stays, as there are no visiting hours at hospices.
• A space United Hospice is calling the "great room," in which families can read, watch TV, play games or listen to music.
• More private areas for meetings, gatherings, prayer, meditation and contemplation.
• Specially-designed bathrooms facilities, including a wheel-in bathtub and radiant heat
• Dining options catered to the needs of each patient, including those with religious dietary restrictions
• Multiple kinds of therapies, including music, pet, massage and horticultural
• Areas outside the building that will accommodate wheelchairs and beds, including gardens, paths and a patio

The house is just another step for United Hospice, which has grown exponentially since starting in 1988. Stern has been with United Hospice for 22 years, and said when she first started there were just a few people working for the organization all in the same office. Now, she said, there are 105 staff members and 275 additional volunteers, and that they worked with 133 patients last year.

"To see this is extremely gratifying," Stern said. "From day one, the community has been asking for this."

One person who said he's also been waiting for this for a few years is David Schwartz of Suffern. Schwartz's wife, Janice, died in May 2006 from a rare blood disease, but for the last year and a half of her life received home counseling from United Hospice. Janice Schwartz was a special education teacher at Woodglen Elementary.

"When you go through something like that, you need a support system," he said. "The woman we worked with didn't just help my wife deal with what was going on, but she helped me. When I walked in the house and saw her there talking to Janice, I was relieved. She would make sure I was doing all right, too. What you're doing when you use United Hospice is you're bringing a team to you. It's a team of supporters."

Schwartz said he asked anyone who wanted to make a donation in his wife's name to do so with United Hospice, and those donations would be used to help build the Joe Raso house. He also said he's asked if the donations for his wife can go to something relating to the pond, as she was "attached to the water."

For this reason, as well as her being from North Shore, MA, Schwartz held her funeral in Maine, where her ashes were sprinkled on a beach. Mary Lynne Schiller made the drive up to Maine by herself for the funeral. Schiller, United Hospice's hospice and palliative care social worker, worked with the Scwartzs.

"I had the wonderful pleasure of getting to know her," Schiller said. "She had a love of life and compassion for others. She touched many lives."

Schwartz said that it means a lot to him that donations he contributed to will go the home, and that his wife's legacy will live on "at a place that is going to provide great services for people."

Another person who would've liked the house to be around for a family member is Rockland County Legislator Ed Day of New City, who said he wishes there was something like the Joe Raso Hospice Home around when his father was dying.

"It would've eased a lot of grief, eased a lot of pain," he said.

Day has been a supporter of United Hospice for a few years, and aligned himself with the organization while running for office in 2005.

"I knew the organization and how they helped people," he said. "It was the right thing to do, and if I wasn't going to support what I thought was the right thing to do I shouldn't have run anyway."

Day was one of many public figures at the groundbreaking ceremony, including Clarkstown Supervisor Alex Gromack and County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, along with Clarkstown Town Board members Shirley Lasker of Upper Nyack and Frank Borelli and Stephanie Hausner of New City.

"Rockland County just became a better county because of this," Vanderhoef said.

Also speaking was Joe Lagana, the chair of the construction committee, who said the hope is that the home can open in about 12 months.

"We used to tell people that we don't have a place of our own," Stern said. "Very shortly, we are going to have a place."