Shepherd Center Offering Naming Opportunities at New Family Residence Center

Shepherd Center is building a $16 million residential center adjacent to the hospital. It will provide temporary free housing for families of patients so they can be near their loved ones during rehabilitation.

In addition to much-needed housing, the Irene and George Woodruff Family Residence Center provides a way for people to honor a loved one with naming opportunities within the facility. Many people think that having a place named in their honor – or in honor of someone they love – is a wish that’s out of financial reach. But Shepherd Center offers affordable ways to make this wish come true.

Naming opportunities include a gift or pledge of $30,000 payable over three years to name a wheelchair-accessible family suite or a $300,000 gift or pledge to name an entire floor. “Naming a place within the Woodruff Family Residence Center is a wonderful way to honor or remember grandparents, parents, children or other loved ones,” says Dell Sikes, special advisor and trustee at Shepherd. “It’s really a way to create a legacy of love and generosity for future generations, but most importantly, to be an important part of helping others during a very difficult time in their lives.”

The new 87,000-square-foot Center will have 84 wheelchair-accessible suites, each offering a bedroom, kitchenette, living room and bathroom. It also will have a large family activities room, community lounge and space for training classes. It is scheduled for completion in early 2008.

Family facility is important to Shepherd mission

“This new facility is a key component for both Shepherd Center and its patients,” says James Shepherd, chairman of Shepherd. “When a family arrives with their life upside down and has all the worries of how their loved one is doing, as well as financial pressures, the last thing they need is to worry about is where they will stay and what it will cost.”

Having the family nearby, Shepherd adds, provides the patient with crucial emotional support and allows family members to be a part of the care and education of the patient. “We have evidence that by educating the patient and family, our outcomes of returning the patient to the home and family far exceed the national average,” he notes.

Generating gifts for new facility is critical

Providing free housing to patient families is not new. Shepherd owns 25 condominiums just a few blocks north of the hospital. (These will be used for overflow housing for patients and families on an as-needed basis, or alternatively as low-cost housing that Shepherd Center could provide temporarily as an incentive in the hospital’s recruitment of nurses and therapists, who are in high demand.) The new facility will consolidate and expand the housing program - and make it more convenient. It will be adjacent to the Jane Woodruff Pavilion, an expansion project nearing completion, which will nearly double the size of the hospital.

“Generating gifts for the family residence center is critical,” Shepherd says. “As we grow from 100 to 120 beds, we will be able to serve an additional 200 patients annually, so we have the urgent need to expand this program to serve our inpatient and day program patients. Insurance simply does not pay for family living, which is why we need to build private support.”

If you are considering a naming opportunity within the new Woodruff Family Residence Center, please contact Dell Sikes at 404-350-7304 or email Dell.