As vibrant leaves fluttered in the warm autumn breeze, the vacant building on top of the hill behind the hospital came alive Tuesday, bursting from the seams with the spirit of community and compassion.
Outside the building, Allan and Randee Radel smiled as they remembered the days they relied on the Homestead Hospice House to care for Randee’s mother, Kaye Mahlman, during the final days of her life.
“It was wonderful. It was good for her, and it was good for the family,” Randee said, looking at the house as visitors strolled inside. “It was just wonderful care.”
It has been more than a year since the Hospice House has cared for a patient, but there is movement being made to open the doors once again as a full-service residential hospice care facility. And thanks to the Radels, that dreaming has taken a significant step toward reality.
The couple handed over a check this week to the HHH Board to put toward the $850,000 fundraising goal to reopen the house. While the couple has decided they’d rather just call it a “very generous donation,” in lieu of sharing the actual number, those involved in the fundraising efforts are not shy to say with confidence that, thanks to the Radels and others like them, they are making “significant progress” in reaching that goal.
The donation was made moments before the second lunch and learn event was hosted at the house, providing an opportunity for community members to learn more about the house as well as its new partner — the Rochester-based nonprofit Seasons Hospice. Together, the HHH Board and Seasons are looking to reopen the facility, needing $350,000 of startup funds for IT and staff onboard, as well as $500,000 to fund the first year of operation.
According to Seasons Hospice Executive Director Kristina Wright-Peterson, it costs about $1,200 per day to care for one patient, and room and board is not covered by medicare or long-term care insurance.
In July 2023, Allina Health announced they would be discontinuing the service they were providing at the house, citing both “labor reductions within the Allina system and a decline in patients requesting that specific care service.” The house closed, and the HHH board got to work on some much needed infrastructure projects — making the house “move in ready” for Seasons if they can raise the needed funds.
The need for the house to reopen is real, Wright-Peterson said, noting they still get referrals specifically for the Homestead Hospice House every week. There is also a clear desire from hospice caregivers, too, as she explained there are already 15 people on her “roster” who have asked to be informed when the house reopens and they start hiring to fill an estimated 25 clinical care positions.
“When we came and saw this house, I knew it couldn’t stay closed any longer,” Wright-Peterson said. “It’s an expensive business, and it is a risk, but we don’t want to open back up and leave again. We want to have a sustainable plan that can keep us open for 25-30 years or longer.”
The fundraising goal has a deadline of Dec. 1, and during the September lunch and learn event, HHH Board Member Pat Buretta said they had surpassed 10% of the fundraising goal. With a month now passed, Wright-Peterson was happy to announce the significant progress they have made since, though for legal reasons said she cannot yet announce an actual number.
Regardless, the HHH Board and Wright-Peterson confirmed several individuals, couples and businesses have now been stepping up to make donations and annual pledges to see the residential end-of-life care facility reopened in Owatonna.
For Allan and Randee Radel, they said making a contribution to the house made sense for a multitude of reasons.
“Owatonna needs this,” Allan said, calling on the many volunteers that have helped operate the house over the years from bedside company to making sure the house itself always smelled like freshly baked goods. “It is an excellent legacy for us to leave, and we hope other people and companies will also step up.”
And people continue to do exactly that. As a group of 30-plus people learned more about the collaboration and fundraising effort, the doorbell upstairs rang. When Buretta returned, she emotionally announced someone had handed her a $10,000 check.
“We’re going to open this house,” she said, as the room applauded.
LUNCH & LEARN
Join Seasons Hospice and Homestead Hospice House for a light lunch, a tour of the hospice house and to learn more about the work being done to reopen the facility. The lunch and learn will begin at noon and end by 1:30 p.m. Nov. 12 at 2350 26th St. NW, Owatonna.
Donations can be sent to P.O. Box 894, Owatonna MN 55060. Make checks payable to "Homestead Hospice House" or "Seasons Hospice - Owatonna."
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