Through the years, Hospice Ministries has served families and patients of all ages and from all walks of life. Although every story is different and unique, there is one common denominator– there is always grief. Grief for adolescents and children can be especially difficult, and it is because of the vision of a few and the life of one special teenager, a grief center for children and teenagers was born. It is called the McClean Fletcher Center, and it serves more than 160 families in Central Mississippi every year. McClean Fletcher was a beautiful, young woman.She never knew a stranger. She was a friend to everyone and a mentor to her friends, and she used faith as a guide to her life. She thrived on friendships and made certain that her friends kept in touch with one another.
McClean aspired to be a pediatrician mostly because of the joy that she received from being around children. At the young age of 19, just a child herself, McClean died in a car accident while traveling home from babysitting close family friends who lived out of town. The pain and grief experienced by those who loved her, especially her young friends, was extraordinary.
Kathy Woodliff’s mother died when she was just eight years old. That trauma led to many struggles in early adulthood. “A therapist told me that I was experiencing unresolved grief. I had never heard of it, but I decided that I needed to work through that,” says Kathy. “I had never processed my mother’s death and that was negatively impacting my life.” “Years later, I talked to a friend, a Bishop in theEpiscopal Diocese, who happened to be on the board of Hospice Ministries. He introduced me to John Fletcher,McClean Fletcher’s father. She had died just two years before we met. The timing of my encounter with John was divine. We both felt called to start a resource center for children who were experiencing grief in their lives. We immediately started looking and found that the right person to lead a grief center was Isabel Cordua.” Isabel served as Director until her retirement in 2016; she still remains active as a volunteer.
Today, the McClean Fletcher is operated by one staff member, Director Jennifer Goodwin, and a long list of volunteers who maintain the center, conduct grief sessions, and serve in capacities that have the same goal: To provide support for hurting children who have lost loved ones. The Center’s primary fundraiser is held every year near Valentine’s Day and is called The Heartstring Gala. It started small and is now a significant event that attracts a large number of people who want to support the Center. To learn more about the McClean Fletcher Center, visit mccleanfletcher.org believe we’re successful because everybody who is on the board, who volunteers, and who gives to the Center has a passion for what we’re doing. Our board is hands-on and very active, and our volunteers and donors are committed. We couldn’t be where we are without either of these,” says Isabel Cordura