Rivendell hosts Almost Home golf fundraiser

May 12, 2011

Opened in 1992, Almost Home is a home located in Kingston that provides comfort and respite to the families of sick children who are receiving various types of medical treatment in Kingston area hospitals. While doctors and nurses and other medical staff treat the children, the goal of Almost Home is to provide a place where families can offer the necessary emotional support to their children in a warm, comfortable environment as they undergo treatment. Located within easy walking distance of Hotel Dieu and the Kingston General Hospital, the home is wheelchair accessible and offers full sleeping accommodations for up to 11 families.

Almost Home provides families with parking, access to kitchen facilities and all of the usual comforts of home. Almost Home makes it “easy for parents to maintain their bedside vigil and allows children undergoing treatment to leave their hospital beds to spend time with their families in a home-like setting”. The facility also allows children attending clinics to have a place to go between appointments, or a place to stay overnight if necessary, surrounded by their families. Often a sick child's hospital stays and treatments away from home can cause stress to all members of the family. Almost Home allows families to stay together during these times of stress.

The cost of the service, which is run solely by volunteers, and which receives no financial support from the federal and provincial governments, is approximately $280,000 per year. Help is needed to keep this important service up and running. The 19th annual fundraising golf tournament for Almost Home will take place at the Rivendell Golf Club in Verona on Friday, May 27. To register online please visit www.almosthome.on.ca or call 613-548-8255.