I am eager to share with you some important and exciting developments taking place in Living Room. Through much prayer, discernment, and planning, our Kenyan and U.S. boards have made the decision to expand our hospice and funeral home services to a second site located near Eldoret town. It is approximately a 35 mile/90 minute drive from Living Room’s existing campus and is situated in a strategic location in its nearness to a newly opened cancer center, which provides care to nearly 700 cancer patients/month in the out-patient clinic. Living Room will be the primary referral site enabling many adults and children to receive quality palliative care services. Through holistic care and education, Living Room aims to demonstrate the importance of palliative care to the larger Kenyan health care system and to establish a much-needed service to the most vulnerable.
I wish I could share with you in person the beautiful story of how the property for the new site was acquired. The day after our boards made the decision to expand into Eldoret, a lady I had never met before called to donate furniture to Living Room. Her name was Kate, and she explained that her 95 year old mother-in-law had just passed away and had been living on an eight acre farm a few miles from Eldoret town. Kate had come to Kenya for the funeral and to get the estate in order and would shortly be returning to England. Within two weeks of meeting Kate, Living Room was able to purchase the land for half of the valued price. The serenity and beauty that fills the place is impossible to describe with words and feels like a gift I did not even know to ask for.
Over the past six years, Living Room’s Kimbilio Hospice and Funeral Home has provided comfort and refuge – physically, emotionally, and spiritually – for over 1,200 patients and families; and while I am humbled and grateful by all that has been accomplished, I am also acutely aware that there is still more work to be done. Perhaps one of the most difficult and heart-breaking experiences we witness here too often is turning away very sick people from our services, simply because Kimbilio Hospice is full. There is a significant opportunity before us. I ask for your prayers as we dream this dream and plan for all of the next steps. In the days ahead, I will be sharing the full details about the expansion, including the fundraising goals and opportunities for partnership.
As always, thank you for your love, prayers, and financial support.
