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Groundbreaking

for Hope House, a long-awaited children's addition to Southwest Christian

Hospice in Union City, will be Thursday, Oct. 18 at 11 a.m.

Organizers

are planning a 30-minute ceremony involving families involved with Hope

House's home-based care program, local politicians, board members and

volunteers.

Angela Ewers,

event coordinator, announced that Dr. John Potts, medical director of

Hope House, Dr. Jim Dyer of Southwest Christian Hospice and state Rep.

Lynn Westmoreland will speak briefly at the groundbreaking.

Elected representatives

from Clayton County and Union City also are expected to attend.

Hope House

will be a respite care center for dozens of children afflicted with

life threatening conditions, next to the existing hospice building.

Currently, there is only one room allocated for pediatric care at Southwest

Christian Hospice, but a home care program has been in operation for

several years attending to children in a 12-county area.

The center,

supported by area churches, will provide a place for fragile children

to stay for a few days or as along as two weeks, to allow parents a

little time off from the grueling 24-hour-a-day task of caring for a

seriously ill child.

Plans call

for an eight-bedroom wing, complete with family lounge, two parents'

efficiency rooms, game room, computer and music room, library, multisensory

room, hydrotherapy pool, spa bath and showers, gardens, outdoor play

area and a chapel.