Investing With Vision

Tom and Gina Russo were looking for a way to be "transformational." Through the personal experience of friends served by Hospice, the Russos say they came to understand the importance and warmth of the whole process of hospice care.

"Our friends shared with us the blessings they had received through Hospice," Tom says, "and the respect they felt for the care Hospice provided."

Motivated by this experience, Tom and Gina became dedicated supporters of Hospice. In 2012, upon learning of a need for increased awareness of Hospice services among members of the Latino community, the Russos, through the Thomas A. & Georgina T. Russo Family Foundation, made a three-year pledge to fund a new bilingual bereavement counselor position at Hospice & Community Care's Pathways Center for Grief & Loss.

Thanks to their generosity, Hospice was able to bring Deborah Gonzalez, MSW, on staff in October 2012.

"This one person has already had such an effect," Gina says.

This, they say, is the goal of the Thomas A. & Georgina T. Russo Family Foundation.

"We like to fund visionary projects with an investment that has multiple results," Tom says. "We like to find needs that have been previously unmet and to help make changes happen."

In funding projects that are "off grid and off budget," the Russos say they envision the role of the Russo Foundation to enable projects that can become something proven, something that is then embraced as vital, with the result being that the visionary project becomes "regular business," and becomes part of the future planned budget. The Foundation funded the three-year bilingual bereavement counselor position with the understanding that Hospice & Community Care would then retain and budget for the position at the conclusion of the funding.

This funding has already had widespread impact. The number of Latino individuals served through the Pathways Center has nearly doubled, from 72 people to 138. Deborah tries to meet with the family of every Latino patient receiving hospice care to provide support and to establish a relationship that is valuable when the time may arise for bereavement support. The Pathways Center is also producing a quarterly bereavement newsletter in Spanish.

The desire to help fund change can be contagious, but Tom worries that until personally touched by Hospice, many do not fully understand the impact Hospice can have.

"So many people are talking about and sharing their good experiences at Hospice," Tom says. "Hospice is there and ready to provide that support for others."

"The beauty of providing a gift for Hospice is that donors can choose to support an area of care that speaks personally to them," says Ginjr Robinson, Hospice & Community Care Special Gifts Manager. "It is immensely fulfilling to see the direct impact your gift has upon so many in our community."

If you would like to learn more about supporting Hospice & Community Care through a gift, bequest or endowment, please contact Amy Lewis at (717) 735-8729 or alewis@hospicecommunity.org.