The Heart of Mary with Kim Derrick
“This is a story God wrote.”
God planted a seed in Kim’s young heart to accompany and care for the sick and dying as an adult.
Kim was raised in a family in which the members surrounded one another in all the joys and sorrows of life, including death. She didn’t realize until adulthood that this was not every person’s experience.
As a hospice nurse it broke Kim’s heart that there were so many people poor and dying who had nowhere to go.
With the help of Saint Edward Church in Nashville, TN and others who shared in her desire to help the poor and dying, Kim created “The Heart of Mary House” to love God’s children during their final days as Our Blessed Mother would want.
A Dementia Doula’s Blessing in the Basement
This compassionate episode is about a woman who Mary Anne grew to love and yet never heard speak her name. It’s about a broken medical system that truly left this woman completely desperate and at death’s door. Yet, when all options were completely exhausted, a simple basement full of love in Nashville Tennessee was sent via a special friend in Oklahoma.
Though the basement is simple, the love of Christ oozes out of every cinder block in those three large rooms. Mary Anne describes how she sees the hands and feet of Christ from the moment she walks in. He is there. The heart of heaven resides in that small basement on Thompson Lane.
This Dementia Doula is forever changed and honored to have cared for this special friend and her family. Life and death will never look the same way again. In those final nine days, even in death, Mary Anne’s friend showed her what life is truly about. This is what genuine compassion looks like. This old song says it best:
“ What the world needs now is love, sweet love
That’s the only thing that there’s just too little of…”
Except for a small basement on Thompson Lane in Nashville, it’s full of that love!
Heart of Mary House
This week’s episode is part two of episode 25 of the Aging, Angst & Alleluias Podcast “A Dementia Doula’s Blessing from the Basement.” Experience the “alleluias” from that nine-day stay in the basement for host, Mary Anne Oglesby-Sutherly’s special friend, Diane. This is a resource of magnitude for those living with dementia and those at the end of life.
Kim Derrick, Founder and Director of The Heart of Mary House in Nashville, TN. shares her exceptional story with a happy ending about her mission to help those at the end of life find a peaceful, loving environment to make their sacred passage. Her mission in life as a hospice nurse led her to find a different approach to caring for those who had nowhere else to turn. Kim’s heart, her care and her mission is truly comforting and compassionate for her patients and their loved ones. The Heart of Mary House is changing how end of life looks for those in desperate need, coming from a simple oasis in a cinder-block basement.
In this week’s show, Jennie talks with Kim Derrick about her hospice ministry. Kim is a long time hospice nurse and the founder and executive director of the Heart of Mary House in Nashville, Tennessee. Kim shares how she saw a need for those without a home or support to receive hospice care in the midst of a loving environment. Kim’s desire to offer a safe, comfortable, peaceful home for the dying poor became a reality in 2022. God opened the doors, helped her overcome obstacles and placed the people and resources in her path to make this dream a reality.
Kim shares her experiences and the many lessons that she has learned from the residents at the Heart of Mary House. The ministry has not only been a blessing for the residents who become like family to the many volunteers who minister to their needs, but Kim recognizes that as they serve the residents that they receive more than they ever imagined. She sees the hand of God in everyone who walks through the door at the Heart of Mary House.
Kim tells stories of how even the most broken can be saved, healed and come to recognize the love of Christ no matter how difficult their past has been. When asked about the biggest regret people face in their final days, Kim shares it is not forgiving and reconciling with loved ones.
This podcast will open your eyes to the journey of hospice and allow you to see that there is holiness in dying for the person facing their last days on earth, but also for the family and loved ones surrounding them.
Click here to learn more about the Heart of Mary House and how you can support this beautiful ministry.
Jennie is a Catholic speaker, Life Coach, Podcaster, Weekly Radio Show Host on Nashville Catholic Radio, and founder of Catholic Moms in the Middle. After 26 years of working in Catholic education, Jennie felt God calling her “to step out of the boat” to serve in a new way. In her new ministry as a Catholic Life Coach, she now equips and encourages middle-life moms to reconnect with who they are and their unique God-given purpose so they can MAGNIFY Christ in their corner of the world.