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Land donated for Wellness House
Developer gives 2 acres near Annapolis for cancer patient support center
By Susan Gvozdas | Special to The Baltimore Sun
September 4, 2008
Dr. Kelly Sullivan (left); Janet Richardson-Pearson, land donor; and Sherri Meredith, of Annapolis Wellness House, stand at the proposed house site. (Baltimore Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor / August 29, 2008)
The campaign to build a support center for Annapolis cancer patients moved a step closer to reality with the donation of land three miles from Anne Arundel Medical Center.
Janet Richardson-Pearson, president of Katherine Properties Inc., set aside 2 acres from a 70-acre property that she plans to develop for commercial use. The Annapolis Wellness House would be built on Crystal Spring Farm beside Mas Que Farm, home of the Chesapeake Dressage Institute, which Richardson-Pearson founded.
Richardson-Pearson said she has wanted to offer the land for a charitable cause since she bought it 12 years ago. Now that she has a working site plan, she can move forward with the donation.
"I thought this is perfect," said Richardson-Pearson, who announced her decision Aug. 23 at a fundraiser. "This is exactly what I wanted to have on this property."
The land is a boon for the nonprofit Annapolis Wellness House, which has been looking for space to build a 4,000-square-foot clubhouse for cancer patients. The home away from home would provide child care, counseling, support groups and information to patients being treated at the medical center.
The organization needs to raise $2 million for the construction of the house. It also needs money for a permanent endowment to support an annual budget estimated at $350,000. The nonprofit will be launching a major fundraising campaign in 2009.
The facility could be finished at the earliest in 2010 if the organization can raise the money and receive permit approval, said Sherri Meredith, the new executive director for Wellness House. The problem is that cancer patients can't wait.
"The need is now," Meredith said.
Since February, Wellness House has been offering support groups for children of cancer patients at Evangelical Presbyterian Church at 710 Ridgely Ave. in Annapolis. Organizers have been searching for temporary space where they could offer child care, but they have not found a home that would be suitable for commercial use, said Dr. Kelly Sullivan, a driving force behind the project. Zoning rules require 100-foot setbacks and space for parking. The homes that have been available needed extensive repair, she said.
Sullivan, who conceived the idea four years ago, said the land donation has buoyed her and her patients' spirits. She is a plastic surgeon who does reconstructive surgery on breast and skin cancer patients. Too often, she hears from parents who have to bring small children along to radiation and chemotherapy treatments, which can take from four to eight hours.
"We've been thinking about this for so long," Sullivan said. "It makes us see that it will finally happen."
The project also has picked up steam with the hiring of Meredith, who started Aug. 4. She had been in charge of fundraising at Hospice of the Chesapeake. In her spare time, she offered advice and support to Sullivan on how to set up Wellness House.
The Wellness House would be an oasis for those being treated at the medical center's Geaton and JoAnn DeCesaris Cancer Institute. The cancer institute provides treatment to 22,000 patients annually, said Justin Paquette, a spokesman for Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis.
Anne Arundel Medical Center officials have been working with Wellness House to avoid duplication of services. They also contacted Richardson-Pearson when they learned that Wellness House was looking for a permanent home, Paquette said.
Richardson-Pearson said she had wanted to donate the property for years, but too much work had to be done before that was possible. Although Richardson-Pearson's family lives in a home on the property near a handful of others, the land is largely undeveloped. The only access roads into the property are dirt and gravel. The site for the facility is thick with trees and underbrush that would have to be cleared. New roads would have to be built.
In addition to the Wellness House, the rest of the land is designed for commercial use and could include a senior housing community. A large portion of land would be set aside in a preservation trust. The land officially is part of Annapolis, so city officials would have to approve zoning and building permits.
Richardson-Pearson, a former interior designer, has volunteered to help with the design of the home. Sullivan envisions a two-story home with a covered wrap-around porch where families could relax on rocking chairs. The home would have a library with computers for families to do Internet research, meeting rooms, a kitchen, a children's play area staffed by volunteer baby sitters and a garden for patients.
Frank Kaye of Kaye & Associates is donating his services as an architect. Sullivan is looking for a builder to donate services to construct the home.
Richardson-Pearson said she has family members who struggled with cancer. She said she knows that Wellness House is sorely needed.
"I don't know anybody in this county who hasn't been touched by cancer," Richardson-Pearson said. |
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Land donated for new Annapolis Wellness Center
Group provides services to cancer patients and their families
By SHANTEE WOODARDS, Staff Writer
Published September 04, 2008
The Annapolis Wellness House is one step closer to a permanent home.
The facility, which provides services to cancer patients and their families, has received a land donation from Katherine Properties Inc. The roughly 3-acre site will be located within an 88-acre parcel in the area of Forest Drive and Crystal Spring Farm Road. Officials said they expect the new facility to be complete by 2010. In the meantime, at least $3 million has to be raised to build it and sustain programs.
Currently, the nonprofit group operates out of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Annapolis.
"It is going to be a house," said Sherri Meredith, the group's executive director. "We want it to feel like a comfortable home where patients and their families and their caregivers can gather and find a sense of community, and maintain a sense of hope during the course of their treatment."
Dr. Kelly Sullivan developed the idea for the Wellness House in 2006, as a way to provide guidance for family members dealing with a cancer diagnosis. That effort grew into monthly support-group meetings for children ages 6 to 18.
The group also offers stress-reduction classes, nutrition and exercise programs and educational workshops. This fall, the Wellness House will launch a mentor program between cancer survivors and cancer patients.
Dave (Survivor) with Grandkids
Age 62 Tonsil Cancer
4/27/07 The
Capital, Annapolis, MD.
Surgeon assembling crew
to build Wellness House
Space intended to be a
home-away-from-home for
cancer patients
By WENDI WINTERS, For
The Capital
It was the kids sitting
for hours in her waiting
room that tugged at Dr.
Kelly Sullivan's
heartstrings. They have
no place to go while
their mothers undergo
hours-long treatments
for cancer.
By late autumn, if Dr.
Sullivan can overcome a
mountain of hurdles,
there may be a dream
house just for them: a
place for kids to play,
read and talk with other
kids while their parent
is seeking help to end
their disease.
Called Wellness House,
the space is still on
the drafting board but
has the enthusiastic
support of the Annapolis
Rotary Club and an
expanding network of
friends and supporters.
Dr. Sullivan observed
that when young mothers
are undergoing treatment
for cancer they often
have no one to baby-sit
their children.
"The illness has tapped
all their resources.
They have no extra money
to pay for sitters, the
spouse has to work to
pay the bills and offset
the loss of income from
the sick partner, and
family members are too
busy or too far away to
help," said Dr.
Sullivan. "So, kids come
with the mom."
If the parent has to go
see another specialist
or therapist afterwards,
the youngsters follow
like little ducklings.
Three years ago, one
breast cancer patient
came in for a
consultation,
accompanied by her three
children, aged 10, 8 and
6 years old.
The youngest bluntly
asked Dr. Sullivan, "If
my Mommy goes into to
the hospital again, will
she die?"
The beleaguered mother
asked the doctor if
there were other cancer
patients with young
children. She wanted her
kids to talk with them
so assuage their fears
and help them feel less
alone.
That's when the idea for
Wellness House struck
Dr. Sullivan.
Though busy establishing
her plastic and
reconstructive surgery
practice at 888 Bestgate
Road in Annapolis, and
herself a mother of two
young children, Dr.
Sullivan wondered why
there wasn't a
comfortable, home-like
place for adult patients
with cancer and their
children. A place they
could drop by for
classes, information,
support groups,
computers, services and
childcare while a parent
is dealing with health
issues at the AAMC
campus.
"The idea is more of a
club house, like an
on-campus place where
people with similar
interests can go," said
the young doctor.
During the day, the
patients could go to
yoga, meditation and
nutrition classes. She
said they'd have
overnight accommodations
for out-of-town family
members for short term
stays, meeting rooms and
informal gathering
spaces and, a big
component - child-care.
It would all be free of
charge.
"The idea was initiated
by that mother of three,
who brought her kids
into my office during
the summer while she had
radiation treatments,"
Dr. Sullivan said.
"I want Wellness House
to have child-care so
children of cancer
patients aren't
entrenched in the
illness. They should
have a playground,
classes and
volunteer-run
activities. Plus, there
would be opportunities
for children to talk to
other kids going through
the same thing, instead
of being isolated, alone
and upset by their
parents condition."
She recalled an
8-year-old who got
embarrassed when his
mother wouldn't wear a
wig after the chemo
treatments made her hair
fall out. If the child
had a peer in a similar
situation with whom to
talk and share, he might
not have been as upset.
The concept of a
Wellness House isn't
completely original.
Ronald McDonald House
Charities has more than
250 houses in 49
countries, plus dozens
of Ronald McDonald House
rooms and mobile units
to assist families of
sick children.
The Wellness Community,
a national non-profit
organization, has 21
chapters around the
country. One is located
on Maryland's Eastern
Shore in Salisbury,
providing a full range
of support programs for
people with cancer and
their families.
Dr. Stanley Watkins,
head of the Anne Arundel
Medical Center Oncology
Department, and Breast
Center director,
oncology surgeon Dr.
Lorraine Tafra, both
encouraged Dr. Sullivan
to pursue the idea, as
did officials at AAMC,
Dr. Sullivan said.
"The main focus of
Wellness House is
getting well, getting
through the (time) you
have cancer with as
little disruption as
possible. Though most of
my patients have breast
cancer, Wellness House
is for all cancers, and
for men and women,"
stated the doctor. "We
hope to have a place,
too, for spouses to deal
with their partner's
cancer. A place to go
to."
A member of the
Annapolis Rotary, Dr.
Sullivan turned to
fellow members for
advice. "How would I do
this?" she asked them.
"They jumped on the
idea. Nine of 11 of the
Wellness House board
members are Rotarians,
including Dr. Sullivan
and her husband, Dr.
Justin Cashman, an
orthopedic surgeon.
The past few months,
Wellness House is closer
to becoming a reality in
Annapolis. The
charitable group
received its IRS 501c3
non-profit status in
February. The Rotary has
provided a $5,000 grant
to fund start-up costs,
plans and paperwork.
Among the Rotary,
attorney Rich Wright, an
attorney and now the
board's secretary drew
up articles of
incorporation. Another
member, an architect, is
drafting plans. Still
another is developing
the group's Web site.
Spouses and friends of
Rotarians are helping,
too, as are other
doctors' families in the
area. Laura Meyers, a
friend of a Rotary
member, designed the
Wellness House logo and
other graphics for the
project. "The tax papers
were done by the wife of
one of my husband's
partners," the doctor
beamed.
Cheryl King, also a
member of the board, has
enlisted her husband
Dennis, owner of King
Carpentry Construction
Inc. He has offered to
handle new construction
or renovations at cost.
Dr. Sullivan is also
talking with members of
S.O.S. - Survivors
Offering Support - a
strong breast cancer
support group founded by
Denise O'Neill and
headquartered at the
Breast Center at the
Sajak Pavilion. She
hopes they will operate
an outpost at the
Wellness House. "I'm
also hoping to reach out
to high school students
who want to fulfill
their service credit
hours here. We could
gear a program to
satisfy our needs - and
theirs," said Dr.
Sullivan.
The road to Wellness
House has been bumpy.
The group was
negotiating for an
ideally situated house
1603 West Street in
downtown Annapolis. The
owner offered the group
a price break on the
property; a contractor
was drafting plans. But,
the group needs a zoning
variance to operate in
that location, and
parking is limited. It
will take four or five
months to wend through
the approval process.
With the real estate
market softening, the
owner, understandably,
is eager to sell
quickly.
Recently, the group
found land on Severn
Grove Road and
considering plans to
construct a building
that meets their needs.
There's a snag there,
too. The land is outside
city limits, in the
county. The group must
address a different set
of zoning regulations.
"The good news is
everyone we've
encountered is excited
for it to happen.
Getting through the
loopholes is important,"
Dr. Sullivan said
confidently. "We want to
be within 5 miles of
AAMC, to make it easier
to drop kids off at
Wellness House."
The group is currently
trying to raise $1
million to cover
construction and other
start-up costs, plus
$400,000 annually to
operate the house. "The
$1 million is to build
or get a home equipped,
plus hire a full-time
director," stated Dr.
Sullivan. "Board member,
Shelley Sarmiento, owner
of the Alister and Ruby
furniture store, has
offered to furnish
Wellness House. Shelley
is hosting a private
informational party for
potential donors at her
home on May 12."
Ms. Sarmiento, former
co-owner of White
House/Black Market, is
also creating an apparel
line, AliRu, to benefit
Wellness House,
dedicating a portion of
its profits to the
non-profit.
A fundraising drive is
also underway to raise
funds for the house.
Several donors, she
noted, have already
pledged $5,000 apiece.
For information about
Wellness House, visit
the Web site
www.annapoliswellnesshouse.org
to download a brochure
or e-mail
annapoliswellness house@comcast.net.
The grandfatherly figure
in the brochure is David
Sullivan, a tonsil
cancer survivor and Dr.
Sullivan's dad.
Dr. Sullivan sighed.
"There's a lot of cancer
in this area. Too much."
Published April
27, 2007,
The Capital,
Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2007
The Capital,
Annapolis, Md.
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Published November 12, 2007
Teen Pulse - Broadneck High School
Wellness House provides support
By ANDREA SMITH, Broadneck High School
'Cancer is something that affects far too many families right here in our community. I had breast cancer three years ago, and I know how difficult it is to deal with the whole process,' said Sharon Pettit, of the family and consumer sciences department.
'It's very overwhelming on so many levels.' 'I was fortunate enough to have really good medical care throughout my experience,' said Mrs. Pettit. 'I can only imagine how hard it must be to go through something like this if the family has young children.'
The Annapolis Wellness House was designed as a place for cancer patients and their families to go to for help. They are 'committed to helping cancer patients and their loved ones through the treatment phase of their illness,' according to their brochure.
The local Wellness House will provide support group programs for cancer patients, their spouses and children. Hospice of the Chesapeake already provides summer camps for grieving children, and the Annapolis Wellness Corporation thought they should take advantage of their experience, and work with them to create the children's support groups.
In addition to the support groups, the Wellness House will have support mentors so that cancer patients and families can have a relationship with 'somebody who's been through it' said Jan Wood, a Wellness House coordinator. They plan on having mentors specifically for spouses and teens.
Mrs. Pettit read an article about the Wellness House in The Capital last April, and she immediately thought she could get Broadneck students involved. She believed that her child development students and students involved in the National Honor Society could benefit from helping the Wellness House get started.
The Wellness House stressed that they want student volunteers to get a feeling of achievement from helping them, as opposed to doing work that seemed menial. They are currently working on fundraising and awareness for the Annapolis Wellness Corporation.
So far, they have held a Penny War during Spirit Week to raise funds for the Wellness House. 'We're getting some good small contributions,' said Ms. Wood. She emphasized the idea that these small donations were central in getting any organization running. Mrs. Pettit said, 'We were hoping they would need childcare support early in 2008, but the house itself will not be up and running now until probably late spring of 2008.
Just last week, they did find a house.' The Annapolis Wellness Corporation had originally planned on joining with Wellness House, an organization with similar objectives that operates around the nation. However, the national Wellness House does not provide child care, due to zoning problems. 'We've said ‘tough, we're going to make it work,'' said Ms. Wood.
Child care for parents with cancer was one of the original inspirations for the Wellness House, and they were not going to give that up. There is talk of having high school students and AACC students do service and internships with the child care aspect of the Wellness House.
In the original plan for the house, the Annapolis Wellness Corporation thought they would provide overnight housing for relatives of cancer patients on-site at the Wellness House. Instead they will work with hotels near the hospital.
The Annapolis Wellness Corporation stresses the need for a 'home away from home' for cancer patients, stating that 2545 cancer patients were treated at Anne Arundel Medical Center last year. They say that the overwhelming occurrence of cancer in Anne Arundel County is 'staggering.'
MAKING LIFE EASIER FOR CANCER PATIENTS
AND THEIR FAMILIES
Kelly Sullivan, M.D.
President of the Annapolis Wellness Corp.
One day, a young breast cancer patient entered the office of Kelly Sullivan, MD, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon with a special interest in cancer reconstruction, for a consult. She had her three young children, ages 6, 8 and 10, in tow and she looked exhausted. Her 6-year-old daughter gazed up at Dr. Sullivan and asked, “If my Mommy goes in to the hospital again, will she die?” The little girl’s mom very gently took her young daughter in her arms and explained that she was sick, but was getting treatment and would get better. She then turned and asked Dr. Sullivan if she had any other cancer patients with young children that her kids could talk to so they wouldn’t feel so frightened and alone. Unfortunately, Dr. Sullivan had many…
During their visit the family shared with Dr. Sullivan all that they had had to endure since the mom had been diagnosed with cancer. Dr. Sullivan began to think about what she could do to offer her patients support and, on a much larger scale, what the Annapolis community could offer cancer patients and their families during the difficult treatment phase.
Cancer patients deal not only with an emotionally and physically exhausting diagnosis, but treatments often last six months or more. Patients are frequently unable to work. Some lose their jobs and insurance coverage as a result of their diagnosis. Patients with young children at home face an even more difficult task of being physically unable to care for their children at the same time that they are struggling to help their children to cope with the fact that mommy or daddy is sick. Often these patients are forced to bring their young children with them to the hospital for daily radiation or weekly chemotherapy treatments, because they have nowhere else for them to go. Dr. Sullivan felt like she had to do more to help these struggling families. She began to research centers in other communities that provide a warm place where cancer patients and their families could go, outside of the medical community, to relax, talk, and play. While many cities and communities offer such needed support, unfortunately, Annapolis did not have such a place.
“Annapolis is a wonderful community with a world class medical/cancer center. It would be wonderful if we could offer our patients and their families a home away from home where they could gather strength to help with the healing process,” points out Dr. Sullivan. With that she enlisted the help of the Annapolis Rotary Club, of which she is a member, and together they founded the Annapolis Wellness House.
The Wellness House will be located in Annapolis within close proximately of the hospital. The home will offer a variety of classes focusing on healing from cancer. The Annapolis Wellness House will offer informal gathering areas where peers can offer support and encouragement; child care services with indoor and outdoor play areas; a library with books about cancer and healing; and computers with internet access to allow research on cancer related topics. Finally, the home will offer two or three bedrooms to provide overnight accommodations at no charge for out of town family members of cancer patients who are undergoing treatment. “The Wellness House will also offer many educational as well as spiritual opportunities to help heal our patients and families,” says Sullivan. “Our hope is to create a successful program to help those in need of support and care at a time when resources are strained, and answers are hard to find.”
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