About Canuck Place

Borrowed from Gift of Time an annual major fundraiser for Canuck Place

WHAT IS A CHILDREN’S HOSPICE?

Canuck Place Children’s

Hospice provides specialized pediatric palliative care and support for children living with life-threatening illnesses, not only in the last stages of life, but throughout the illness. In our warm heritage home in Vancouver or through outreach programs, highly trained staff and volunteers help children and the rest of the family cope with the medical and emotional challenges that they face, for as long as care is needed.

WHAT IS A LIFE-THREATENING
ILLNESS?

Life-threatening illnesses are those for which there is no reasonable hope of cure. Some illnesses cause progressive deterioration resulting in a child becoming increasingly dependent on their parents or caregivers.

WHAT IS PEDIATRIC PALLIATIVE CARE?

Pediatric palliative care refers to caring for and comforting children with life-threatening illnesses, as opposed to curing, while focusing on enhancing their quality of life. At Canuck Place, our care team assists children and families fulfill their physical, psychological, social and spiritual goals.

WHO WORKS AT CANUCK PLACE?

The care team at Canuck Place is highly skilled, professional staff supported by volunteers. Our team includes doctors, nurses, grief counselors, a special education teacher, a social worker, a chaplain, a recreation therapist, a music therapist and many others.

WHAT KIND OF HELP DOES CANUCK PLACE
PROVIDE?

When a child is admitted onto the Canuck Place, program, a personalized care program is designed for the child and their family. Some of the services available include:

• PAIN AND SYMPTOM MANAGEMENT:
  
  Our Canuck Place care team works closely with parents and other medical professionals to ensure the child’s symptoms are managed and the child is as comfortable as possible.
  
  
  
• RESPITE CARE:
  
  Our around the clock care provides families with a rest from the demands of caring by welcoming the child and the whole family for regular stays at the hospice.
  
  Staff and volunteers ensure Canuck Place is a place of joy and happiness by offering music and play therapy, as well as recreational opportunities within and outside the Hospice.
  Children in care and their siblings have access to a full-time teacher, available to support their schooling needs. The whole family can enjoy the Jacuzzi hot tub, multi-sensory room, lovely gardens and a fully-accessible play ground.
  
  


• END OF LIFE CARE:
  
  Sadly our work, at times, involves providing children and their families with end of life care. The staff and volunteers are highly experienced in supporting children and families at this time. Over the years, Canuck Place has discovered many ways to communicate this caring through special traditions.
  
  
  
• GRIEF SUPPORT:
  
  Our Care Team provides support to children and families who face continual losses caused by the illness. This support continues long after a child dies, and allows siblings,
  parents and friends, in individual or group counselling, to be supported in their own experiences of loss.

WHAT IS MEANT BY EMBRACING LIFE?

Canuck Place Children’s Hospice is a story of courage and vision and a shining example of the good that comes when individuals and organizations see a need in their community and
work together to fill it. The need was to provide another option for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families – an option that would give families the added flexibility to access hospice care when hospital or home care could no longer meet their needs.

This vision became a reality in 1995 when Canuck Place opened as North America’s first free-standing children’s hospice. Today Canuck Place stands as a model for children’s hospices around the world and is regarded as a leader in pediatric palliative hospice care.

HOW ARE CANUCK PLACE’S SERVICES FUNDED?

Canuck Place provides its care and services free of charge to children and families in British Columbia. Our operating budget is funded through the generosity of individuals, corporations including the Canucks For Kids Fund, and the Provincial Government.

Our current funding helps cover day to day operating expenses, however, in order to meet
the demand for care and expand our services to BC families in need, we will continue to rely on the generosity of donors to help us provide care today, and to build for tomorrow.