Helen Gibb fondly recalls the impact Hospice Huronia has had on her life.
During an event at Tomkins House Friday to recognize provincial grants the local hospice has received, Gibb recounts how her life was in great upset when her life partner of 40 years, Doug Mulligan, was admitted last spring to the facility located on Fuller Avenue in Penetanguishene.
“It became his home away from home,” says Gibb, who spent 4 ½ years as Mulligan’s primary caregiver and describes their love story as one for the ages.
“Everyone was so wonderful, friendly and kind. Doug spent seven weeks here. With his dignified passing, he was at peace.”
Mulligan, who grew up in Midland and later taught in Toronto, passed away last June at the age of 89.
Gibb says that through the care and support of staff and volunteers, she has made it through the pain of losing someone so close to her.
“I was left with hurdles to conquer,” she says, noting Hospice Huronia’s bereavement support program along with other offerings like yoga for grief and a workshop on handling grief over the holidays greatly helped her cope.
“Before, I thought hospice was about death and dying, but I feel alive again.”
Tomkins House welcomed its first patient on April 16, 2020, just weeks after the pandemic began. Since then, its dedicated, compassionate staff have cared for close to 300 patients and their families.
During Friday’s event, Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop joined staff and volunteers to hear how two grants from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) totalling $369,300 have helped since the doors opened for the new five-bed hospice home.
“The impact of this Ontario Trillium Foundation grant cannot be overstated,” Hospice Huronia chair Donna Macfarlane explains. “These grants have allowed Hospice Huronia to support over 1,000 people experiencing grief and isolation as well as offering 24/7 care at Tomkins House when our ability to raise funds decreased.
“We simply could not have cared for this community without the OTF. We also want to congratulate the Ontario Trillium Foundation on 40 years of granting and building healthy and vibrant communities across the province.”
Dunlop also announced the province would provide $13,726,100 in additional top-up funding for nursing, personal support and other services delivered to patients in 84 residential hospices across Ontario of which Mariposa House in Orillia and Hospice Huronia will each receive $175,300, a 67 per cent top-up increase from base funding.
“These two OTF grants and the additional top-up funding through the province are integral in support of staff and the important programs delivered within both Hospice Huronia and Mariposa House,” she says.
“Through funding like the Resilient Communities and Grow funds, these organizations can continue offering quality supportive care and grief services to residents and their loved ones during such a difficult time.”
In 2020, Hospice Huronia received a three-year, $229,200 Grow grant to help it bring on a full-time social worker and deliver programs such as the aforementioned yoga offering and art therapy that aid those in the North Simcoe area experiencing isolation and grief.
And then last year, the hospice was awarded a one-year, $140,100 Resilience Communities Fund grant to help it rebound from the devastation the pandemic caused for fundraising in the community, and helped rebuild its volunteer program.
As for Gibb, she points out that Hospice Huronia’s dragonfly motif has become an important symbol in her life.
She now has many dragonflies in various forms around her Orr Lake home, including some near Mulligan’s favourite recliner.
She also recalls how dragonflies have seemingly been attracted to her since Mulligan’s passing, including one that landed on her when she arrived home with his things from his time at hospice.
Gibb adds: “When dragonflies appear, angels are near.”
