Building a new inpatient facility that could accommodate 50 patients was a vision from the beginning of the formation of Hospice Ministries. This would not have been possible without gifts from individuals, corporations, and foundations who shared this same passion for quality end-of-life care.
One of these extraordinary gifts came from the McRae family in Jackson, Mississippi. Selby and Richard McRae were well known in Jackson through their successful retail stores, but more importantly, they were especially known for their kindness, compassion, and generosity. In December 1997, Hospice Ministries received a special note from Richard McRae that said, “We would like to commit to Hospice Ministries $300,000, the estimated cost of construction of an Adult Hospice Suite.
Selby and I have always admired the good works of Hospice, for we have had several friends who have needed this service in the last period of their lives.”This gift enabled the building of a suite that was appropriately named “The McRae Suite”. Over the course of the next 20 years, many patients and families would use those rooms. The suite has touched the lives of many because of the generosity of this family. Most recently in December 2018, the McRae family made another gift to Hospice Ministries for renovation of a suite; they did not know that the suite to be renovated was the McRae Suite, the one they had originally funded. The continued kindness and generosity of the McRae family will allow Hospice Ministries to serve patients and families for many years in the renovated inpatient facility.
~The McRae Family