Family of Jennifer Ross Envisions Way to Help Other Families

More than four years after a Savannah debutante was murdered, her family is working to keep her memory alive.

Jennifer Ross, 19, was shot while walking with friends in Orleans Square Christmas Eve of 2005. She died on New Year's Day.

Monday would have been Jennifer Ross's 24th birthday, and it was the day her parents celebrated the start of a project to expand and renovate the waiting area for the trauma and critical care units at Memorial University Medical Center. The Ross family hopes the new family respite care center will become a comfortable place for families who need to be close to their loved ones.

"The families need to be cared for so that they can be in better shape to care for their loved ones when they come home," said Coren Ross, Jennifer's mother.

Rusty and Coren Ross envisioned the new Family Respite Care Center after Jennifer's death.

"Every time that I would pass through the waiting room and see people who had driven in from Albany or Vidalia or Valdosta, who were sitting in the same chair as they'd been in for the last 3 days, eating fast food, all I could think was, this is just wrong," said Coren.

She said Jennifer's reaction to Monday's groundbreaking would probably be, "It's about time."

Many people were present Monday to toast their dream becoming a reality, including Donald Farmer, who was treated at Memorial after being hurt during the Imperial Sugar refinery explosion in 2008.

"It could've very easily been going the other way... I survived a very horrendous accident, and every day I thank the Lord for me being here," said Farmer.

He said he's happy to see that families who will be waiting here will also receive the same care as their loved ones.
 
"When I came through here, they treated me with care. Everybody seemed to know exactly what they were doing," said Farmer.

They hope to have the new facility finished by the end of the year.

They've raised more than $250,000 of the $500,000 goal for the project. If you want to help, you can donate by calling the Memorial Health Foundation at 912-350-6381.