Pecatonica Home Owner Needs $600K To Help Veterans on Hospice

Marty Johnson is the owner of a beautiful, historic home on Main St. in Pecatonica that she wants to renovate into a hospice care center for Veterans, but she can't do it without receiving thousands of dollars in grant money.

The truth? This house at 605 Main Street in Pecatonica, IL is the home of my dreams.

My husband is from Pecatonica, and my mother-in-law lives off Main Street, so every time we go there I pass this house and daydream about living in it. It has been up for sale a few times in the past years, and since my mother-in-law would be overjoyed to have my family move to Pecatonica, she often gives me updates about it to fuel my desire to own it. Last update she gave me was that it was going to be turned into a hospice care center, which was quite awhile back, so I thought maybe the plan was no longer a go. That plan is still very much in effect, IF Johnson receives the $600,000 grant she applied for from the Blazer Foundation in Rockford.

According to the Rockford Register Star, the Blazer Foundation is dedicated to helping people with mental or physical disabilities, and the group is expected to give their answer to Johnson's grant application very soon.

Johnson told the RRStar;

"We are hoping, trusting, believing that the Blazer Foundation will graciously agree,..We're just trusting, believing, that having this funding in place will not be a difficulty. It will be a joy and a privilege for everyone that participates in making this happen."

Johnson also told the Register Star that "grant approval would allow her contractor, Winter Construction of Freeport, to start renovating her 608 Main St. single-family residence into a five-bed hospice facility.'

I may have always wanted to own this home, but I am more than happy to let that dream go if it is able to serve a higher purpose for this country's amazing Veterans. Do the right thing, Blazer Foundation; just say "yes".