Bluegrass Care Navigators - Philanthropy Newsletter (Spring 2023)

Celebrating 45 Years in our Communities

This year marks our 45th anniversary of providing expert and compassionate care to individuals who are dealing with serious illness and going through their end-of life journey. Our passionate commitment to the communities we serve began in 1978 as Hospice of the Bluegrass and continues to flourish today with a variety of care services that offer support to patients and families—with hospice care remaining at our core.

Today, as Bluegrass Care Navigators, we are applying our deep expertise and best practices learned from hospice care to help people through many different health care challenges in an expanding variety of ways.

It is thanks to you and our Caring Community of donors, volunteers, and supporters that we continue to grow. Thank you for helping us reach more patients in need of our care and for helping thousands of individuals to achieve the same level of comfort and dignity at end-of-life that we all deserve.

Your philanthropic support makes it possible for programs such as Integrative Medicine and Bright Path Pediatric Palliative Care to deliver complementary and collaborative care that promotes the well-being of all our patients - adults and children - as well as their families.

It is this same compassionate generosity for our mission that enabled us to expand our service area from Lexington to Central Kentucky and then further into Northern and Eastern Kentucky

over the years. Today, in 2023, we are providing expert care to more than 2,000 Kentuckians daily.

We know how important it is to spend quality time with loved ones during their final months, allowing families the time and space to say goodbye on their own terms.

But we also understand just how overwhelming losing a loved one can be—that’s why we are committed to providing Grief Care to individuals who have experienced the loss of a loved one. We offer our Grief Care services not only to our patient families – but to anyone in the community who needs us. This is only possible through the continued support of our donors.

And for the last 45 years, families across the Commonwealth and beyond have come to see Bluegrass Care Navigators as a steadfast and trusted friend, providing expert, compassionate care to generations of loved ones.

As we commemorate this milestone together, we hope that you will consider renewing your generous support. Through our caring community’s generosity, Bluegrass Care Navigators will continue to reach more patients and achieve new levels of patient-centered care for the seriously ill and their families for generations to come.

Shining a Light for Patients and Families

When Connie’s aunt Shirley began to reach the final stages of her illness, her main focus of care shifted to providing her aunt with a quality of life and level of comfort that she deserved.

So, when Connie turned to Bluegrass Care Navigators to assist her aunt, she did so with confidence that we would provide compassionate, expert care and help make her aunt’s transition peaceful and dignified.

“This was not my first engagement with Bluegrass Care Navigators. Both my mother and father were cared for by Bluegrass Care Navigators in the early 2000s.

The services Bluegrass Care Navigators provide are life-changing in that they allow the patient dignity to live their final days as they choose and give the family support to endure it.

The entire team contributed greatly to my aunt’s quality of life in her final months. It gave me great comfort to know that her hospice team was looking out for her in every way.

My goal was to keep my aunt comfortable, and I believe we accomplished that. Thank you does not adequately convey my appreciation. The world would be a darker place without the light that the Bluegrass Care Navigators’ team brings to those that need it.”

Your generous support for our mission is what makes it possible for us to shine our light on our patients and families— providing them with compassionate care and bringing them comfort and dignity on their end-of-life journey.

We Want to Hear Your Story!

We love to hear how our services have touched your family’s life. Please take a quick moment to tell us how our staff, our services or our support has made a difference in your life or the life of someone you love. As a reminder, our organization has had several names, including Community Hospice of Lexington, Hospice of the Bluegrass, Mountain Community Hospice, and now Bluegrass Care Navigators. Whether you’ve had exceptional care from our hospice teams, our Palliative Care team or our Grief Care support after a loss, we want to know.

When we share your touching stories with others, it can help them to realize the benefits of our care services and may help them make a tough decision much sooner.

Bluegrass Grief Care Helps Eastern Kentucky Children Find Hope

Thanks to grants from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and the Berea College Appalachian Fund, bereavement counselors from Bluegrass Care Navigators (BCN) visited 10 schools in counties affected by the flood. During their visit, BCN’s bereavement counselors read books about grief to classrooms, donated books to the school library and facilitated a grief art activity at each school visit.

“I am so grateful for the ways my team serves the Eastern Kentucky region every day, but especially with this project,” Pam Dixon (MSW, CSW), Regional Counseling Supervisor, said. “Our area was devastated by the floods, but my team is helping these children and their families process this tragedy and build back emotionally. We can’t erase what has happened, but we can help these children find hope.”

To help facilitate the conversation, the team read In My Heart A Book of Feelings, which explores the full range of emotions within the body and gives readers ways to articulate them. When the BCN team gave space to express feelings, the children named sadness, happiness, anger, confusion, devastation, gratitude, and guilt.

When it was difficult to use words, the children were invited to draw their feelings. Each child had lost something, whether pets, houses or loved ones. For some, it was the first time they had talked about their experiences in the aftermath of the flood. Each child also created a mandala by tracing a pattern on a coffee filter with washable markers and spritzed it with water. As the colors bled into each other, it created a kaleidoscope. While these projects dried, the team read There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon, which talks about the importance of expressing your feelings and noticing other’s feelings.

Despite the devastating loss, one of the emotions the children expressed was hope. “They got it, but they couldn’t express what hope meant very easily,” said Susan Houston (LCSW), bereavement counselor. “But one little boy, put it this way when he said, ‘I have the hope that we’ll get a house and not have to continue to live in an apartment.’”

THANK YOU!

Frankfort Toyota Makes Generous Gift

Managing Partner of Frankfort Toyota, Eric Clark, stopped by our Frankfort office to deliver a generous donation from his dealership and the Toyota Dealer Match program. Thank you to Frankfort Toyota for continuing to make a difference for so many families in the Frankfort area!

Miss Behaven Gifts Spreads Holiday Cheer

Thank you to Miss Behaven Gifts for the Southern Heart for creating a fun “Diva Basket” raffle during the holidays that raised funds for our Bright Path Pediatric Palliative Care Program. We are grateful for Melissa Mattox and all of her customers for their generosity.

Two Pines Christian Church Supports Medical Respite Patients

We are truly grateful for Two Pines Christian Church for their support of our Medical Respite program through these amazing in-kind donations of drinks, snacks, ready to warm up meals, personal care items, activity books and pens for the patients in this program.

Lexington Lion’s Club Supports Bright Path Program

Thank you to the Lexington Lions Club for their generous donation to support our pediatric patients served through the Bright Path Pediatric Palliative Care program. We are grateful for all the Lexington Lions continue to do for our organization and the entire community.

OUR VOLUNTEERS IN ACTION

Help us welcome Laura and Buddie. They are our pet therapy volunteers in Lexington. They made their first visit to a patient in December.

Karen and Melanie are often busy with administrative work at BCN headquarters.

Jessica and Abigail pitched in to help on Christmas Eve!

Clark and Bill coordinated Christmas Eve lunches for the hospice care center.

Handcrafted ornaments made by volunteers in December.

Henry decorated trees for hospice care center patients.

Seeing Through the Pain

Whitney Clay, Art Therapist and Integrative Medicine Coordinator

While my experience working in hospice care frequently addresses physical symptoms and legacy-making needs for our patients and families, art therapy is primarily a mental health profession. An art therapist’s goal is to use active artmaking, creative process, psychological theory and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship to enrich lives and build coping skills for our clients.

A recent referral from Northern Kentucky provided an opportunity to see the ways that these two areas of art therapy can blend seamlessly to address patient care goals. The patient was referred by the team with a goal of legacy making for her young grandchild. During the art therapy assessment, I asked about this goal, but the patient spent much of the visit sharing her struggle with transitioning to hospice care after an active life. She described depression and pain that made it difficult to interact with her family. We decided to continue art therapy visits with goals of symptom management and emotional expression before addressing legacy making.

When I arrived for my next visit, the patient’s daughterin-law joined us at the table. The art invitation was to trace their hands on the page and to use the art materials to depict things they had touched or been touched by. The instructions included the use of their non-dominant hands. This practice requires participants to use both sides of the brain, which often elicits surprising feedback. As the women worked side by side, they talked about their shared experiences, with the daughter-inlaw expressing gratitude for the ways she had been nurtured by the patient.

The patient’s art image was striking. She had worked to identify people and experiences that had touched her during her life, but they were hidden behind long lines radiating through the traced hands. She was tearful as she explained that the lines depicted her pain and was stunned when I verbalized her experience of not being able to see the things she loved because it was hard to look through the pain. She cried as she processed this simple observation. We talked about advocating with her care team to manage symptoms and about techniques such as mindfulness that might allow her moments of connection. She asked if our next session could be scheduled so that her husband could participate, hoping that they might both be able to share feelings and connections through art.

I look forward to continuing to work with this patient and family. While I hope that we will create a piece of legacy artwork, I feel that the true legacy will be supporting the strong and loving relationships in the family by offering her moments to “see through the pain.”

Become a Sustaining Donor

Would you like to make an ongoing impact for our patients and families? Please consider becoming a monthly donor. Giving just a little each month makes a huge difference for those we serve.

Your gift can be a great tribute in memory of a loved one.

bgcarenav.org/monthly-giving

What You Need to Know About This Year’s New Retirement Laws

A new year has brought more than just resolutions. It’s brought new laws and other changes that may affect your giving decisions. And with any economic change, you may be looking at your finances and wondering how you will be impacted.

The new laws include retirement changes, known collectively as “Secure 2.0,” that may affect your saving and your giving. They may even make it easier for you to make a difference at organizations you care about, like Bluegrass Care Navigators.

Some important things Secure 2.0 does that involve charitable giving:

1. Increases the required minimum distribution (RMD) age.

2. Adjusts for inflation the $100,000 annual limit on direct gifts to qualified charities from your IRA.

3. Allows for a distribution from your IRA to fund a life-income gift such as a charitable gift annuity.

Reach out to Laura Klumb, Vice President for Philanthropy, at 859.296.6865, or visit our planned giving website shown on the right to learn more about these changes and how they may affect you.

Learn more about these important changes: plannedgiving.bgcarenav.org/ new-retirement-laws

Honoring Walter Major, Jr. at National Philanthropy Day

Bluegrass Care Navigators was proud to recognize longtime supporter, Walter Major, Jr., as our honoree at the 2022 National Philanthropy Day luncheon in Lexington. We are grateful for Walter’s volunteer service on the Frankfort Advisory Board and more than two decades of faithful philanthropic support.

Walter’s generosity helped BCN successfully complete a capital campaign supporting our Frankfort regional office, and he has been a significant supporter of our grief care program. Walter will tell you that the grief counseling he received after the death of his wife Evidean “saved his life.” Walter provides ongoing support to BCN’s grief care program out of gratitude for the services he received through his bereavement counselor, Peggy Williams.

Bluegrass Care Navigators provides grief care services to individuals throughout Kentucky – whether they are connected to our hospice patients or community members needing assistance processing grief. We were grateful for this opportunity to honor Walter Major, Jr. for his continued dedication and generous philanthropic support of those grief care services.

L to R: Peggy Williams (Bereavement counselor, retired); Mary Yohon (Assoc. Director of Philanthropy); Walter Major, Jr.; Gwen Johnson (Frankfort Executive Director).

Hospice Chaplains Help Patients Find Hope

For the past two years, Chaplains Jonathan and Anissa Chambers out of our Barbourville office have worked side-byside, offering spiritual care with a pastoral heart to patients and families at the end of life and helping them find hope and peace.

“The doctor deals with the disease, and the social worker assesses material needs and resources to support the patient psychosocially,” Jonathan said. “As chaplains, we dig through the physical and psychosocial to address the person’s value and worth to help them find hope. We help our patients have some measure of peace and know where they’re going when they die.”

Although no day is the same, the Chambers see three to four patients per day. Each visit lasts about an hour, as they chat about life, faith and engage in questions the patient or family may have. Many patients and families need a listening ear to process their impending loss, grief, questions about life after death, and help navigating dysfunctional relationships.

Each day as Jonathan and Anissa visit their patients, they enter each house with the goal of offering a sacrificial, empathetic and God-kind of love. No matter the person’s faith, they help the patient find their source of strength and hope, using lifereview questions, pastoral care and counseling techniques.

“We are so blessed to have Jonathan and Anissa as part of our Barbourville team,” says Tiya Hoskins, Executive Director of the Barbourville regional office. “It is wonderful to have a husband-and-wife team helping us; they are an invaluable support to our patients and families. Beyond that they support one another and our entire team. They are continually checking with our entire team, offering support, encouragement, and assistance in any way that they can. They are such a blessing to our team!”

“I enjoy the impact that I can have with patients and the gift of peace that they have when I leave,” Jonathan said. “I love being able to use all my tools to encourage and affirm people in their faith.”

Jonathan shared one of many visits with a patient where he felt like he’d truly made a difference in another’s life. During the visit, he asked the woman how long it had been since she felt the presence of God. She replied that it had been a while, and he said, “Well, you’re about to.” They prayed and she did. Physically, she was more relaxed and started crying tears of gratitude and joy.

“I’m not there to fix anything,” he said. “I can educate and answer questions, but I’m there as a conduit and a bridge to help people who are scared, agitated and upset and connect them to hope.”

Looking for a career where your expertise and passions are valued? Join TeamBCN!

Our primary goal is to provide compassionate physical, emotional and spiritual care to patients and their families coping with serious illness. Do your personal goals align with ours? If so, we’d love to have you apply to join our team!

See what careers are currently available.

bgcarenav.org/careers

Bluegrass Care Navigators Expands Presence in Pikeville Region

Bluegrass Care Navigators is proud to designate its seventh regional office in Kentucky, serving residents of Pike, Magoffin, and Floyd counties through its newest location. While Bluegrass Care Navigators has provided hospice care to the area since 2008, this new regional office, along with dedicated executive leadership and a durable medical equipment distribution facility, gives the organization more opportunities to partner with healthcare organizations in the community and connect patients with needed care at home.

“Our goal is to provide compassionate, expert care to those who need it wherever they call home, whether that is in a private home, a nursing home, or even in the hospital,” said Bluegrass Care Navigators CEO Liz Fowler. “As our local nurses, physicians, aides, chaplains and social workers continue to serve more Kentuckians in these counties, this expanded location gives us more opportunity to provide excellent care at home.”

For Chief Hospice Officer Monica Couch, the office expansion marks an important milestone in serving Eastern Kentucky. “There is a growing need for comprehensive care for seriously ill and aging Eastern Kentuckians,” said Couch. “The expansion of our regional office affirms our commitment to working with other healthcare providers to deliver the right care at the right time to patients and families right here in our home community.”