Hospice Organizations Host 4th Annual We Remember Interfaith Memorial Service in Grand Rapids

Local hospice organizations partner with interfaith community for annual remembrance event

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Aug. XX, 2018) – You are not alone – grief touches the lives of everyone. Residents of Grand Rapids and surrounding communities are invited to embrace the memory of a loved one with an evening of music, reflection and prayer during the We Remember Interfaith memorial event taking place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 5 at the Dominican Center at Marywood located at 2025 Fulton St. E. in Grand Rapids, MI. The rain or shine event is free with activities planned for people of all ages.

Keeping with this year’s theme of “A Shared Farewell,” local poet Zachary Tomaszewski will begin the event with a presentation of his personal work. Representatives from the secular community, Baha’i, Christian, Greek Orthodox, Hindu, Islam and Jewish faiths will then lead a one-hour memorial service. An American Sign Language interpreter will be available during the service.

Among the various memorial activities planned from 7 to 8 p.m. for guests to join at their leisure:

  • Planting flowers in a remembrance garden
  • Relaxing with meditative Tibetan “singing bowls”
  • Reflecting with a nature walk through the St. Francis of Assisi Sculpture Garden
  • Decorating and fly a kite as part of Hospice of Michigan’s annual Fly & Remember memorial event

Guests are encouraged to bring a photo or small piece of memorabilia of their loved one to share and display.

We Remember is collaboratively coordinated by CFI Michigan, Dominican Center at Marywood, Ele’s Place, Emmanuel Hospice, Faith Hospice, Grace Hospice, Heartland Hospice, Hospice of Michigan, Instruments of Hope, the Islamic Center of Baha’i of Grand Rapids, the Kaufman Interfaith Institute, Kindred Hospice, Spectrum Health Hospice and Palliative Care and the West Michigan Bah.

For more information about We Remember, please call 616.514.3325 or visit http://dominicancenter.com/programs/we-remember-interfaith-memorial/.

About the participants

Center for Inquiry Michigan: is working to foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values. Central to our mission is developing a vibrant secular community throughout Michigan to allow atheists, agnostics, humanists, skeptics, and other freethinkers to share life enriching experiences, offer mutual support, engage in community service, and work to end the stigma attached to being a nonbeliever. We promote reason, science, and church/state separation to counter the influence of religion and pseudoscience in public policy, and to defend the values, interests, and civil rights of nonreligious citizens.

Dominican Center at Marywood: Dominican Center, a spirituality and conference center, exists to foster the growth and transformation of persons, communities, and organizations through prayer, learning, and collaboration in an inclusive, hospitable environment. Dominican Center is a ministry of the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids.

Emmanuel Hospice:  Emmanuel Hospice is an interfaith collaboration of four local organizations with more than 200 years of combined experience providing quality health care services in West Michigan. St. Ann’s, Clark, Porter Hills and Sunset have joined together to deliver the highest level of holistic care to those who have reached the end of life and their loved ones wherever home is.

Faith Hospice:  A part of the Holland Home system of care, Faith Hospice provides hospice, palliative, and bereavement services both in ones home or in our unique Trillium Woods hospice facility. Our team of specialized physicians, nurses, aides, social workers, counselors, and chaplains are dedicated to providing a higher level of care and unlimited compassion to ensure the comfort of both the patient and their loved ones. At Faith Hospice, we are here to be your champion.

Grace Hospice: Grace Hospice, along with Visiting Physicians Association (VPA), Pinnacle Senior Home Care, and The Home DME are all part of the nationally recognized healthcare continuum of the U.S. Medical Management. As end-of-life care providers, our mission at Grace Hospice is for each employee to treat every patient as their own treasured loved one, providing care that affords a quality of life that outweighs quantity of days, and supports caregivers as their hearts find healing.

Heartland Hospice:  Heartland Hospice first opened its doors in the greater Grand Rapids area in 1999, and is part of the HCR Manor Care family. Heartland Hospice is the third largest hospice provider in the nation and believes in providing care wherever the patient or family calls home.

Hospice of Michigan:  A nationally recognized leader in end-of-life care, Hospice of Michigan is the original – and largest – hospice in the state. The nonprofit cares for nearly 1,800 patients each day, raising more than $5 million each year to cover the cost of care for the uninsured and underinsured. HOM offers a broad range of services to enhance the quality of life at the end of life, including community-based palliative care and pediatric care programs.

Instruments of Hope: Instruments of Hope is a Michigan-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting peace through various artistic endeavors. Our vision is to build the St. Francis of Assisi Sculpture Garden. Visitors are able to walk and sit along meandering pathways through wooded areas and gardens. Inspired by the life of St. Francis of Assisi, the bronze statues depict him in postures of prayer, meditation, preaching and interacting with nature.  The statues are placed in areas conducive to quiet reflection. The Garden is located on the grounds of the Dominican Center at Marywood, 2025 E. Fulton, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Kaufman Interfaith Institute: The mission of Kaufman Interfaith Institute is to promote interfaith understanding and mutual respect in West Michigan through interfaith dialogue and service we promote a vibrant and diverse community for all generations.

Kindred Hospice: Kindred Hospice an affiliate of Kindred at Home is one of the nation’s largest post acute services provider in the country. When healing and curative treatments are no longer an option for individuals at end-of-life, Kindred’s hospice team provides a family oriented, interdisciplinary model of care designed to meet the emotional, spiritual, and physical needs of patients.

Spectrum Health Hospice and Palliative Care:  A belief in compassionate, patient and family centered care drives our teams to excellence. We are fortunate to be well connected with the many resources of the large Spectrum Health system, yet pride ourselves in providing personal care to patients, families and healthcare partners in 11 counties.  Our non-profit organization is committed to continued program development and education to better reach the changing needs of each individual community.  The goal of our nurses, social workers, chaplains, aides and physicians is to honor and respect the values of each individual in every interaction.

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