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The Wesley Meadows Retirement Community Green House® Campaign Receives Major Grants and Gifts From Local Foundations

On October 7, 2019, the Maddox Foundation, in association with the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, announced a $1 Million Matching Grant to build and maintain a Green House® Home at the Wesley Meadows Retirement Community in Hernando, Mississippi.

After almost 23 years of service in DeSoto County, Wesley Meadows has identified a growing community need for a compassionate approach to living with forgetfulness. With a new Green House® Home, memory support assisted living at Wesley Meadows Retirement Community will be unlike any other offered in DeSoto County.

The Maddox Foundation's vision of harnessing the power of dreams to make Mississippi a better place to live uniquely aligns with the MSS vision of making Mississippi the best place in the nation to grow old. The Green House® Home is a transformational architectural and philosophical approach to elder living that provides long-term, intensive, specialized support. MSS constructed the nation's first Green House® Home and continues to operate on the leading edge of this concept. Today, MSS has 19 Green House® Homes at its retirement communities located around Mississippi. Wesley Meadows will be home to the first Green House® Home in North Mississippi specifically for elders living with forgetfulness. The house will be named the "Margaret and Dan Maddox Green House" and will offer Memory Support in a small home designed for 10 elders with private rooms and baths, all surrounding a common living space for dining, socializing and engaging others.

Wesley Meadows embarked on a $1.5 Million fundraising goal to construct this Green House®. On the date of the announcement, over $786,000 had been raised in support of this endeavour. The ambitious Matching Grant ensures that community donations made after October 1, 2019, will be matched, up to $500,000. An additional match of $500,000 has been offered by the Maddox Foundation to fund a Maintenance Endowment for continued support of the home once constructed. That endowment will be administered and invested by the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi.

Steve McAlilly, MSS President/CEO said, "We are more than honored that the Maddox Foundation would collaborate with us by thisgenerous support! It exemplifies that the Maddox Foundation leadership recognizes that how a community treats its elders helps define the quality of life in that community."

"This is a Signature Investment of the Maddox Foundation," states Robin Hurdle, President and CEO of Maddox Foundation. "It will create an indelible legacy of Margaret and Dan Maddox for many years to come. We are confident that The Margaret and Dan Maddox Green House will have a dramatic impact in the lives of the elders being served, their families, the team members who serve them, and our community where this house will be located."

The Maddox Foundation was founded in 1968. It was Margaret and Dan Maddox's intent to serve the broadest possible charitable purposes, and to meet needs close to their hearts whenever and wherever found. Today, Margaret and Dan Maddox's vision and legacy live on through the Maddox Foundation. The Foundation worked with local community leaders to establish the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, and made a $10 Million signature investment to grow endowments and support its operations. The generous matching grant made to the Wesley Meadows Green House® Campaign is a major commitment to meet the critical need for memory support in DeSoto County and reflective of its ongoing mission to invest in the development of Northwest Mississippi.

The Community Foundation manages 237 donor-established funds and has disbursed over $22 million to support more than 700 charitable organizations and activitiesrecommended by its donors, as well as charitable programs established by the foundation. Established in 2002 with a generous grant from the Maddox Foundation, the Community Foundation is an independent 501(c)3 charitable organization. The Foundation serves Bolivar, Coahoma, DeSoto, Leflore, Marshall, Panola, Quitman, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, and Tunica counties. A board of 19 volunteer civic leaders governs the Community Foundation.

Quick on the heels of the Matching Grant announcement, The Homer Skelton Charitable Foundation stepped forward on October 17, 2019, and announced a gift of $450,000 to Wesley Meadows for construction of the Memory Support Green House®. The matching funds doubled the Skelton gift, netting $900,000 to Wesley Meadows for construction of the Memory Support Green House® Home.

Skelton's daughter, Michelle Chapman, credits Mayor Tom Ferguson for shining a light on this specialized need in DeSoto County. "Marsha (Brasher, Executive Director at Wesley Meadows), did a great job explaining the project to us, but it was Mayor Ferguson who brought it to our attention. Without him we would not have known about how special Wesley Meadows is and what they are trying to do here."

"We are in awe of such a generous gift," said McAlilly. "It warms our heart to see outstanding people like the Skelton Family join us in securing the future of eldercare in North Mississippi. This project will ensure that those who live with forgetfulness have a home where they will be treated with respect and dignity all of their days."

And while the Wesley Meadows Green House® Capital Campaign is nearing its original goal, fundraising will continue with matching funds being granted by the Maddox Foundation.

"We believe raising enough to receive the full matching grant for the endowment will be important for our future success," said Michelle Daniel, Vice-President of Philanthropy & Leadership Development. "The endowment is an investment in future services at Wesley Meadows. It will ensure that the Green House Home is well maintained and ready to serve elders for years to come."

If you would like to join these generous donors in paving the way for premiere memory support services in DeSoto County, we encourage you to donate online at www.mss.org, or fill-out the donor envelope enclosed, and note your gift is for the Wesley Meadows Green House® Campaign.


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Methodist Senior Services

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