St. John Baptist Gets $300,000 for Hospice Construction

Buffalo News

By Deidre Williams
News Staff Reporter

St. John Baptist Church on Goodell Street inched $300,000 closer Thursday to the $1.3 million price tag needed to build an eight-bed hospice.

Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-Fairport, presented a $300,000 check to the St. John Fruit Belt Community Development Corp.

In cooperation with the Center for Hospice & Palliative Care, the church will build the 8,000-square-foot facility on Maple Street on Buffalo’s East Side.

The project, which is part of a $54 million revitalization of the Fruit Belt, is believed to be the nation’s first residence for the terminally ill developed jointly by a church and hospice, officials said.

The idea came after church officials did an assessment of services that are not available or are limited on the East Side, said Michael Chapman, church pastor.

“Statistics show the minority community is underserved in the hospice movement,” said Slaughter, referring to 2003 figures from Hospice Buffalo indicating that only 8 percent of its patient base were African American.

Nationally, African Americans represent only 8 percent of patients who receive hospice care, compared with 83 percent of Caucasians, Slaughter added.

The new center, which will serve the entire community, will allow St. John Baptist and Hospice Buffalo to increase the number of African Americans who receive palliative care, officials said.