Hospice Palliative Helpline: 905-667-1865
Hospice Palliative Helpline: 905-667-1865
Frances Henderson understands the profound impact of hospice care because she has lived it. When her first husband was diagnosed with cancer at 53, the experience was overwhelming.
“His condition was so unpredictable that I couldn’t leave him alone even to get groceries,” she recalls. A local hospice provided a few hours of badly needed caregiver support twice a week. “If the caregiver goes down, everything goes down,” she says. That experience changed the course of her life.
After her husband passed in 1990, Frances moved to Mississauga to be closer to family. “I needed to give back,” she says. Early in 1992, she met Laurie Bennett, the founder of Hospice Mississauga.
“I know you want to work with clients, but your grief is too fresh. However, I really need a fundraiser,” Laurie told her. With no connections in Mississauga, Frances had to start from scratch. “The only way to explain the valuable service that a hospice can provide to people facing the many problems of a terminal diagnosis was to tell them how hospice had helped me.”
In those early days, hospice care was widely misunderstood. “People would ask, ‘What’s a hoss spice?’” she laughs. “There was so much fear — fear of death, fear of talking about it, as if saying the words would make it happen.” Fundraising became not just about raising money but about changing perceptions. What started as a five-minute conversation with a potential donor often turned into 15 or 20 minutes. “People had to understand what a hospice provided to their community before they were willing to donate to it.”
One of the biggest challenges in fundraising for Hospice Mississauga was its lack of visibility. Unlike Ian Anderson House in Oakville or Dorothy Ley Hospice in Etobicoke, Hospice Mississauga didn’t have a physical space where the community could see its work.
“Hospice care in Mississauga was invaluable but invisible,” Frances says. “Because we provided services mainly in people’s homes, we weren’t ‘seen’ in the same way as other hospices that had a building. That made it harder for people to connect with our work and support it financially.”
From 1992 until the COVID-19 pandemic, she was an active volunteer at annual fundraising events, and she served on the Board of Directors for 13 years. A major focus of her advocacy was the need for a hospice centre in Mississauga.
She is proud of the progress Hospice Mississauga has made, especially its innovative grief programs. “One of the most touching things I’ve seen is the memory albums for kids who’ve lost a parent,” she says. “They gather pictures, cards, stories — so they have something tangible to hold on to.”
She’s also passionate about education. “We need to start in high schools,” she insists. “Teach young people about hospice care, about grief, about how to support one another.”
But perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects of hospice care, Frances notes, is the simple act of presence.” Just having someone who isn’t family to listen to you can make a world of difference,” she says. “It’s a different kind of comfort. You don’t have to put on a brave face. Your stories are all new.”
As the hospice centre finally becomes a reality, Frances feels a deep sense of pride — and urgency. “Hospice is provided at no cost to the individual . People don’t always realize that, but it only exists because of the generosity of donors,” she says. She encourages people to think beyond their immediate needs. “You may not need hospice today, but someone you love could in the future. When that day comes, you’ll want this vital care to be there.”
Looking ahead, Frances remains committed. “Hospice isn’t about dying,” she says. “It’s about living comfortably and with dignity until the very end. And that’s something worth fighting for.”
1-855 Matheson Blvd E, Mississauga, ON L4W 4L6 | (905) 712-8119 | info@hospicemississauga.ca
Charitable Registration Number: 132155011 RR 0001
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