Forrest Health Healthcare Foundation 20th Anniversary 

A close-knit family gathered at their loved one’s bedside, wrapped in the quietness of the moment. They spoke softly, reminiscing about years gone by. Every so often, someone shared a funny story, sparking a burst of laughter that felt almost out of place in the stillness.
Their mother, who had spent her final days at Asbury Hospice House, was unaware of the vigil being kept around her. She could no longer join in the conversation, even though she had once been at the center of so many memories. Still, the love in that room was unmistakable.

A young couple, excited to welcome their first child, keeps watch beside the infant’s isolette in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Born a few weeks early and mostly healthy, their sweet boy needs a little help learning to breathe and eat or breathe and sleep at the same time. The length of their stay is unknown, but they don’t want to leave his side.
For moments like these, the NICU Terrace gives parents a place to step away for a few minutes while still remaining close.

Not far away, a patient carrying burdens far beyond a diagnosis makes his way to the Spiritual Grounds on the Pine Grove campus. Life has been hard in ways words can’t always capture.
Here, he may find comfort in the warmth of the fire circle… or take slow, intentional steps through the Meditative Labyrinth, searching for clarity, peace, or simply a new beginning. Soon, a bell tower and chapel will rise there as well, offering even more space for reflection and hope.

These places may look different. They may serve different purposes. But they share something deeper than design.

They aren’t about procedures. They are about dignity, peace, and presence. They are about neighbors lifting up neighbors. They are spaces where healing extends beyond medicine, where care is found beyond hospital walls.

Each began as a community-driven initiative and was created out of love. They were built by the community, for the community. And that spirit is exactly what inspired the creation of something lasting – The Forrest Health Healthcare Foundation.

The Foundation reflects South Mississippi’s deepest values — family, faith, and taking care of one another. It funds the spaces where medicine meets humanity.

Because when medicine reaches its limits, compassion doesn’t. And for the past 20 years, the Forrest Health Healthcare Foundation has helped ensure it never has to.

On April 6, 2006, letters of incorporation were signed for the Foundation, and Paul McMullan became its first chairman with Martha Dearman as its executive director.

The Foundation was created to assist Forrest General Hospital in meeting the healthcare needs of our community through philanthropy — ensuring that patients and families across South Mississippi would always have access to compassionate care, innovative programs, and spaces designed not only for medicine, but for humanity.

During the last two decades, that mission has taken shape in countless ways. Community leaders, supporters and Forrest Health employees have united around a shared belief that exceptional healthcare is about more than procedures and prescriptions — it’s about people, compassion, and access. If Forrest Health employees were going to donate more than $4.5 million of their hard-earned money to the cause, then it had to fuel something meaningful such as advancing patient care, expanding critical services, and ensuring that families across our region receive the quality healthcare they deserve, close to home.

It’s about presence.
It’s about dignity.
It’s about walking alongside people in their hardest moments.

We understood that a hospital can treat illness, but a community can help heal a life.

“This Foundation is really a reflection of who we are as a community,” said Dearman. “People here step up for one another. They give, they serve, and they make sure families facing difficult moments have comfort, support, and hope.”

All of these projects could not have been done without the community’s support, given in countless ways.

For instance, a group of eight student nurses from the University of Southern Miss spent their spring semester doing clinical work at the hospital. During the Foundation’s annual Employee Campaign, one of the nurses saw a presentation and wanted to get involved.

They first sought donations from members of their graduating classes, then changed their strategy by selling Krispy Kreme donuts to classmates and faculty for 50 cents each.

Hattiesburg Cycles, which observes Breast Cancer Awareness Month each October, donates $50 per unit sold to the Foundation to support the Cancer Center. During the past eight years, they have contributed more than $65,000.

“We chose the Forrest Health Healthcare Foundation over a national charity because we want to support the community and help people right here,” said a business spokesman.

The five-acre tract of land where Asbury Hospice House sits was donated by Susan Thomson Eaves and her brother, John Thomson.

“Our family’s experience with hospice was wonderful and life changing,” Susan said at the time. “My brother and I wanted to contribute the property to give other families a peaceful and sacred setting.”

Because of this Foundation, families have found comfort at the bedside.
Caregivers have found peace in the middle of long days.
Patients have found places of reflection, restoration, and hope.

And none of it happened because of one person.

It happened because of an entire community of people who gave generously, served faithfully, and believed that taking care of one another is simply what we do here.

During the past 20 years, the Forrest Health Healthcare Foundation has helped bring dozens of projects to life — from sacred spaces like Woullard Chapel to healing environments such as the NICU Terrace and Asbury Hospice House — each one shaped by the generosity of donors who believed healthcare should always include compassion. Since 2009, the Foundation has raised more than $26 million for these worthwhile projects.

“We look forward to continuing to tell the stories of the Foundation and what’s ahead,” said Christy Myers, Foundation administrative director.

As the Foundation looks to the future, its mission remains the same – to create spaces and programs where patients and families across South Mississippi can find comfort, dignity, and hope.

This year, as we celebrate the Foundation’s 20th anniversary, we are not only looking back with gratitude, but looking forward with purpose. Because the needs will continue, and the opportunities to make a difference will grow.

And the heart of this community will always be the greatest foundation of all.

To learn more about the Forrest Health Healthcare Foundation or how you can support its mission, visit www.fghfoundation.com