Arlington Tomorrow Foundation ATF Annual Report FY2019 | Page 2

With grant, Arlington hospice will provide peaceful, home-like setting

The only in-patient hospice care
program in North Texas will soon get a face
lift, courtesy of the Arlington Tomorrow
Foundation.

Texas Health Arlington Memorial
Hospital received a foundation grant to
refresh its six-bed hospice facility, which
provides end-of-life care to patients.

“Our goal is to provide a peaceful,
home-like setting to patients and their
families,” said Lisa Brown, director of
development. “We believe it’s critical for
patients to have a warm, comfortable
environment during this time.”

Scheduled for completion in early
2020, the project will include painting
rooms, replacing floors, purchasing
furniture and building additional storage
space for the six patient rooms and family
lounge.

Texas Health Arlington serves roughly
300 patients annually and has cared for
more than 4,000 since it began offering
hospice care 12 years ago. The center
provides physical, emotional and spiritual
support to patients and their families
dealing with life-limiting conditions such
as cancer, heart disease, organ failure and
neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.

Although many patients receive
hospice care at home, Brown said, some
patients require the additional care at a
hospital.

“Some patients require around-the-
clock care that a hospital-based hospice
can provide,” she said. “We have a team
of nurses, physicians, social workers and
chaplains who develop a plan of care
that is centered around the patient’s and
family’s needs.”

Once the refresh is complete, the
hospital plans to conduct surveys with
families to determine the effects of the
project and satisfaction of patients and
their families.

Texas Health Arlington raised a total
of $225,000 for the refresh, including
$100,000 from the Arlington Tomorrow
Foundation.

“The Arlington Tomorrow Foundation
has been a wonderful partner in our
community,” Brown said. “This grant will
allow us to provide end-of-life care so that
our patients can live their last days with
dignity and spend time with their families.”
Tomorrow Foundation
hosts inaugural
Child Care Summit

The Arlington Tomorrow Foundation
hosted the city’s first child care summit
to spark community conversation on
strategies to increase the quality of
childcare available to families as well as
their access to state and federal support
resources.

The free summit, held in September
2019, was geared for local home-based
and commercial childcare providers,
faith-based organizations, human service
charitable organizations and other
community partners whose programs
and services help Arlington families be
successful in education, employment,
housing and related areas.

“As the city’s largest charitable
foundation, the Arlington Tomorrow
Foundation is delighted to convene
this event,” said Victoria Farrar-Myers,
Arlington Tomorrow Foundation board
member and chair of the summit steering
committee. “The summit is designed to
gather the community’s experts, thought
leaders and local child care providers to
discuss methods for ensuring Arlington’s
working families have the benefit of the
best child care options available to them.”

The event featured a moderated
panel and two break-out sessions that
focused on topics such as early childhood
learning, helping families transition out of
poverty and improving childcare. Resource
tables featuring human service, state, local
and faith-based organizations provided
more information to summit participants
on programs and assistance.