Franciscan Health Hammond staff members have joined an outpouring of support for St. Joseph’s Carmelite Home in East Chicago after a fire destroyed one of its buildings last month.
The hospital’s Medical Executive Committee is donating $5,000 from the medical staff fund, which is physician owned and supplied. The funds will aid the recovery effort from the May 16 fire at the home, which provides residential care for children in crisis.
On Monday, as restoration work continued around the property, Franciscan Health Hammond Food and Nutrition Services Supervisor Jeanette Elliott delivered the first of five days of hot dinners the hospital is providing to the Carmelite Home. Because of the fire, staff is unable to prepare meals on site, so a calendar of meal donations has filled those needs.
“The Food and Nutrition Team is very excited to provide hot meals to the Carmelite Home in this time of need. This is truly part of the mission to those we serve,” said hospital Food and Nutrition Services Director Cathy Estes.
Other donations, including gift cards, checks and cash, have poured in from Franciscan Health employees around Northwest Indiana to help the Carmelite Home replace children’s clothing and belongings lost in the fire and determine how to rebuild.
