Baptist dedicates Dorothy’s Cottage, new grief center location

MEMPHIS, Tenn., –Baptist Memorial Health Care dedicated Dorothy’s Cottage, a 4,100-square-foot expansion of Baptist Centers for Good Grief in Collierville, on Tuesday.

More than 100 people attended the event, which included an act of remembrance candle-lighting ceremony, a ribbon cutting and tours.

“Dorothy’s Cottage is a wonderful addition to Baptist Centers for Good Grief,” said Jason Little, president and CEO of Baptist Memorial Health Care. “Helping patients heal physically, mentally and emotionally is central to our mission at Baptist. With the support of generous donors, we’ve been able to expand the grief services we offer and provide support for more members of the community.”

The $2.8 million cottage was made possible by generous gifts from donors, such as the Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation, and Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation. Named in honor of Dorothy Lee Wilson, wife of Holiday Inn founder and entrepreneur Kemmons Wilson, the cottage includes three private grief counseling rooms, two support group rooms, a large seminar room and an outdoor gathering space.

Construction began on the facility in September 2022. Local contractors and businesses who worked on the project include Flint Co. and S&L Mural Company.

Dorothy’s Cottage will host an open house for the community on April 15, and will begin offering virtual and in-person grief counseling and support group sessions on April 17.

Since opening, Baptist grief centers have provided more than 115,000 individual counseling sessions and hosted more than 3,000 campers at Camp Good Grief.

Baptist Memorial Health Care offered Camp Good Grief, the first grief camp for children in the Mid-South, in 1999, and opened the Baptist Trinity Center for Good Grief, the first comprehensive grief center for children, teenagers and adults in the region, in 2005. Baptist moved its grief center to Collierville, Tennessee, in 2010 under the name Kemmons Wilson Family Center for Good Grief. In 2017, Baptist recognized the need to expand its grief services and opened two new bereavement centers — in midtown Memphis, Tennessee, and Jonesboro, Arkansas. These locations make up Baptist Centers for Good Grief, the first and only comprehensive bereavement center offering free year-round grief services to Mid-Southerners. Visit www.baptistgriefcenters.org or follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KemmonsWilsonFamilyCenterForGoodGrief/ for more information.