Coldwell Banker’s Generous Impact on Regional Hospice and Home Care Families

(Danbury, Conn.) It took a community of friends to build Regional Hospice and Home Care’s Center for Comfort Care & Healing. On September 10th, it was an honor to welcome regional leadership from one of them—Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage – to see firsthand the extraordinary impact they have on the lives of our families.

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During the early stages of the building campaign for Regional Hospice’s Center, Building Hope Close to Home, the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Cares Foundation stepped up to support families who needed a residential option for end-of-life care. The foundation donated funding to build and furnish a private patient suite in the west wing of the Center that also offers amenities for family members to comfortably stay with their loved one during care.

Cathleen Smith and Deborah Versackas from Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage and its parent company, NRT, LLC, toured the Center, which includes children and adult bereavement programs at its Healing Hearts Center for Grief and Loss. Each of the twelve private suites at the Center has its own dining area, private balcony and a leather couch that opens to a queen-size bed. The west hallway of the Center also accommodates overnight visitors with a family laundry room, special family bathroom and a private glass-enclosed living room. Since the Center cares for many young patients as well as supports siblings, children and grandchildren, there is also a glass-enclosed teen living room for quiet study; it is also equipped with a Karaoke machine and an Xbox for a needed diversion during the illness of a loved one.

“We are so pleased to support the Regional Hospice and Home Care’s Center for Comfort Care and Healing. The center provides critical support to patients and families during a most challenging time in their lives and works hard to comfort and preserve the dignity of its patients. We greatly appreciate the services that the Regional Hospice offers, and I am especially grateful to the affiliated sales associates and employees whose generosity has made this contribution possible,” said Cathleen Smith, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Connecticut & Westchester County, N.Y.

Common areas throughout the Center were designed for patients and families to feel completely at home outside of their private suite. Overlooking the gardens are a large country kitchen and living room with a fireplace and tropical fish tank, the center’s non-denominational chapel and a glass-enclosed library.

Directly across from the Coldwell Banker suite is an Edmund Lee quote on the wall that inspires and affirms personal meaning for patients, families and the donors who made the building possible: “Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.”

“Dreamers, doers, believers and thinkers such as our friends at Coldwell Banker made the new Center a reality. Their generosity honors the unique greatness and courage we see every day and in every family who faces the challenges of a terminal illness,” said Cynthia Emiry Roy, Regional Hospice President & CEO. “Coldwell Banker has already brought comfort to more than 250 patients who have spent meaningful, serene last days together with their families in the Center. Coldwell Banker is the only real estate company with a dedicated room in the new building. We are very grateful for their support!”

About Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Cares Foundation. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Cares Foundation is a chapter of The Realogy Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. The primary purpose of the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Cares Foundation is to raise funds and provide financial assistance to an array of nonprofit organizations with an emphasis on supporting housing-related causes in the communities where we have a presence.

About Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Connecticut and Westchester County, N.Y. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, a leading residential real estate brokerage company in Connecticut and Westchester County, N.Y., operates approximately 51 offices with more than 2,200 affiliated sales associates serving the communities of Connecticut and Westchester County, N.Y. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is part of NRT LLC, the nation’s largest residential real estate brokerage company. For more information, please visit www.ColdwellBankerHomes.com.

Regional Hospice and Home Care’s team of experienced clinicians have been providing physical, emotional, spiritual and bereavement support to children, adults and their families through our palliative and hospice care program for the past 30 years. Regional Hospice and Home Care is a nonprofit, state-licensed and Medicare-certified home health care and hospice agency. Now, with the opening of our new private-room, specialty hospital for palliative and end-of-life care — the Center for Comfort Care & Healing — Regional Hospice and Home Care can bring that same hope and compassionate care close to home and under one roof. For more information, visit www.RegionalHospiceCT.org. Follow us on twitter: @RegionalHospice. Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/RegionalHospiceandHomeCare.

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Left to right: Paul Sirois, chief operating officer of Regional Hospice and Home Care; Cathleen Smith, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Connecticut and Westchester; Cynthia Emiry Roy, president & CEO of Regional Hospice; Deborah Versackas, communications specialist, NRT, LLC, the parent company of Coldwell Banker; and Terri Eberle Katz, director of development at Regional Hospice.