Donor Stories
The Richard Fujiki & Joan Corbett-Fujiki Caring Support Fund was established with Community Foundation Grey Bruce to benefit the staff of Chapman House Residential Hospice Grey Bruce in Owen Sound. The fund will generate grants that will support staff with a wide array of services including counselling, support, training, professional development, conferences, seminars and, extends even to personal wellness days. Joan Corbett-Fujiki says that the fund “is for the spiritual, physical and mental well-being of the dedicated people who assist the patients and staff in end of life care.”
This fund has come about through Joan’s extensive background as a nurse. She began her journey in health care in 1969 and concluded with her retirement in 2013, 44 years later. Through her many years of service, Joan worked in the ICU, ER, Geriatrics, Surgical and Medical ICU and a Coronary Care Unit. She has taught nursing in the clinical setting in the core hospitals of Toronto for many years. Near the end of her career she worked in a management role in Collingwood. Joan was always drawn to assist families and patients at the end of life. She says “Death is one of the hardest things that we do in this world. Everyone celebrates birth, but few celebrate release and death. My experiences have truly changed my paradigm and world view of death and dying.” Joan’s interests led her to take courses about faith-based religious practices surrounding death. Professionally, she has been a member of bereavement committees and instrumental in assisting in the creation of Bereavement Manuals that have been used in GTA hospitals.
With their generous gift, the Fujikis invite others to donate to support caregivers. Joan sends out a wish on behalf of her husband and herself: “I am hopeful that other people will add to the endowment fund and it can be used to make Chapman House stand out in our world as a place for compassion and care at the end of life.”
Click here to support the Fujikis’ Caring Support Fund or call us at 519 371 7203.