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HEART OF MARY HOUSE
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Thank you for continuing to follow along and support the important and necessary work that goes on each day at the Heart of Mary House! Every prayer, each hour served, all dollars given... fuels our mission in ways you cannot even imagine! I offer you unending thanks and daily prayers.
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-Strengthening Our Mission
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Your feedback is welcomed and encouraged! May God bless you!
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STRENGTHENING OUR MISSION
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How much does it cost to give one resident dignity at the end of their life?
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$230/day
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What does $230 provide to a resident?
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-An address, in order to receive hospice services from an external agency
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-A safe, comfortable, private room
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-The 24/7 loving care of a caregiver
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(someone like Jessica, pictured)
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-3 meals a day, plus snacks and nourishment
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(Chuck’s favorite was Jessica’s sausage and cabbage)
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-An environment to witness the hands & feet of Christ
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-The time to grow in relationship with Him!
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Now is a great time to show your financial support. With our main fundraiser being held each November, we are situated at an in-between point in our fiscal year. This can sometimes pose a challenge in our day to day budget and often restricts our growth as we face many challenges to respond to the growing needs in our community.
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It truly takes a community to support our mission of providing a home and 24/7 care to the dying poor. Our guests receive impeccable care, they are treated with such dignity and love that they begin to flourish by the end of their time at Heart of Mary House. They come to know God and surrender to His perfect love for them!
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With your gift, you are playing an integral role in this great work!
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Together, we can ensure that Heart of Mary House will always be a home filled with compassion, dignity, and peace.
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Our Tax ID# is 88-4022245
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As I mentioned above, the first weekend in November, the Heart of Mary House hosts a dinner and silent auction, which is the main fundraiser for our organization. In order to maintain the same loving, simplistic, environment as our home, we do not charge guests to attend. Instead, we ask them to spread the word and invite others to attend as well.
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Overall, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and guests excitedly await to attend the following year! Past attendees and sponsors have been incredibly generous and most everyone donates at least enough to cover the cost of their meal. We rely on this fundraiser tremendously!
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From our first dinner in the gym at St. Edward to last year's dinner at Aquinas Center, we have grown by over 100 guests. This past year, a large portion of attendees were new and learning about the Heart of Mary House for the first time. While this growth has been a great blessing, we have also realized that many of the more personal and meaningful aspects of our mission are best shared in smaller, more intimate settings.
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I am asking for your help!
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We are planning on hosting this year's dinner at the Pastoral Center in order increase our attendance capacity and conserve costs! Specific details will be released, soon.
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In preparation, we will also be hosting a series of smaller gatherings throughout the year leading up to the November event. These gatherings are designed to provide a deeper understanding of the Heart of Mary House mission and to equip attendees to invite others to the Novemeber Fundraiser Dinner. These smaller events are not fundraisers—they are purely educational.
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We are inviting you to consider hosting a small gathering in your home for family and friends—an evening centered on hope and a deeper understanding of the HOMH mission. You are welcome to choose the format that best suits you, whether it be a dinner, cocktails, potluck, or another style of gathering.
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A Heart of Mary House volunteer and I will attend to help guide the evening by sharing our vision and values, as well as answering any questions. You are welcome to share your personal experience, though this is entirely optional.
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Our hope is that your guests will leave inspired and with a clearer sense of how they may be called to support this mission.
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Complete the form below if you are interested in learning more about becoming a host.
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Barbara Douglas,
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Barbara learned about HOMH through the Tennessee Register. She was most intrigued by the amazing stories of conversions close to the end of the residents’ lives. She visited the original house on the property of St. Edward Church in 2023, with a friend from her bible study group.
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Before her first visit she wasn’t very familiar with the mission or how she would fit in. She vividly remembers walking through the blue door of the HOMH and feeling a warm, heart-filled welcome from the staff and the volunteers. Even though Barbara had an overwhelming sense of the presence of angels, she did not commit to volunteering at that time.
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Once the HOMH moved locations to the Nations Neighborhood, which is just 6 minutes from St. Ann Church, Barbara’s home parish, she returned after going on a pilgrimage to Mexico City. It was while she was on pilgrimage that she felt the calling to volunteer. When she walked through the new HOMH, she had the same great feeling as before with the staff, volunteers and residents. Barbara says, “I have met so many heartwarming people who encourage me to do more corporal works of mercy of giving myself to anyone who is in need, and this increases my spiritual life.”
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Barbara is a weekly volunteer. She not only volunteers many hours each week, she is also quick to pick up items from Costco or Publix for the house. If you have munched on some treats at the house, chances are they came from Barbara! We see Barbara as in integral part of our mission and community! In addition to the time and gifts in kind, she has also brought many friends and fellow parishioners over to the house to learn more about us.
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When asked how Barbara views her time at the house, she said, “As a volunteer you can help feed the residents, talk with them as they go through the last part of life. You laugh, pray, give them encouraging words of hope, and sometimes just be there in their room so they are not alone. Also there is some small house work you can do, such as laundry, washing dishes, sweeping and mopping the floors.” Although, Barbara says her greatest takeaway is, “having met an amazing group of people and sharing their love for the Lord, how they honor Mary and how they want to make someone's experience a little easier at the end of life.”
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Barbara encourages everyone to visit the house so they can also feel a sense of purpose. She says, "Be prepared, though! It's a pure love that will encompass you!" She advises that you pray to God to define your role in the mission. We think that is great advice too!
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Barbara is one of over a hundred and fifty volunteers at HOMH. Her dedication is not only a necessary component of how the mission runs, but she is also a witness to us personally on how to be a living example of Christ's love and how we are to love our neighbor.
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“Love cannot remain by itself - it has no meaning.
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Love has to be put into action, and that action is service.”
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“In the weakness of the sick, I saw emerging evermore clearly a new strength– the strength of mercy. In a sense, the sick provoke mercy… by their illness and suffering they call forth acts of mercy and create the possibility for accomplishing them.”
St. Pope John Paul II
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