Proposal creates residential hospice at Benson Hall

A shout out celebration was held in the produce department at Sobeys of Picton as store owner Jamie presented $1,704 to Hospice Prince Edward volunteers, who in turn, cheered and thanked Sobeys' staff and customers for their donations and support.

County council has approved, in principle, a proposal from Hospice Prince Edward to turn Benson Hall in Picton into a residential hospice facility.
Hospice Prince Edward presented its business plan at last week’s Committee of the Whole meeting. Approval at council’s Oct. 25 meeting would be the first step to secure the first hospice lease hold agreement with a municipality in Eastern Ontario.
Historic Benson Hall, located on King Street, Picton, would be restored into a 3-4 bed residential hospice that would provide practical and compassionate use of an under-utilized municipally-owned building.
“We believe it is important to provide options for end-of-life care for our clients and their families in our community,” said Birgit Langwich President of the HPE Board. “This is the impetus for our proposal to establish a community residential hospice in Prince Edward County – a facility designed and organized to provide palliative and end-of-life care on a 24-hour basis, by professional staff and volunteers in a home-like setting at no cost to the client”.
The residential hospice represents a community-based initiative between multiple partners — the municipality, Hospice Prince Edward, the Picton Rotary Club, the Family Health Team, Quinte Health Care, individual donors and many community volunteers. Hospice Prince Edward has donations in hand of $75,000 and donations pledged for an additional $200,000, with a further $75,000 “possibility” for a total of $350,000 if all the current pledges are realized.
Hospice Prince Edward is a non-profit, charitable organization with a mandate to provide palliative and bereavement support to families and individuals of all ages in Prince Edward County.
“Thanks to funding from the SELHIN, Trillium Foundation, and a variety of fundraising activities and the generosity of concerned citizens, we are able to offer our service free of charge,” said Langwich. “In 2010-2011 HPE provided services to 189 of our friends, families, and neighbours.
“With the announcement of an expected lease hold agreement with the municipality of  Prince Edward, we would be ready to take the next step to launch the residential Hospice initiative with Picton Rotary and our other partners. We know we have the passion and the commitment in this community to make this happen,” said Nancy Parks Hospice Prince Edward Executive Director.
More on Hospice Prince Edward http://www.hospiceprinceedward.ca/

Barker House c. 1812
56 King Street, Street, Picton
Abraham Barker purchased his 200 acre farm from Conrad Vandusen in 1806. Barker constructed the two storey frame house in 1812, within an area which gradually transformed into a business/commercial district, eventually overtaking the residential area.  The relocation of Barker House in 1900, which accommodated the Picton Post Office until 1872, to make way for the new post office when the Main Street frontage was sold to Federal Government provides a tangible link to the development of Picton.  Further, the donation of the relocated house and remnant grounds to the Town of Picton in 1945 by canning magnate W. H. Benson for public use reinforces the connection to town history.