CORNING, NY -- Charlotte Dugan was with her husband Jim day and night during the last days of his life, as he lost a battle against cancer.

"Jim never gave up," Dugan said. "He was very, very, very brave through the whole thing. He never never gave up."

It was a daunting task made even worse by the nursing home where they ended up, she says. According to Dugan, there was limited staff, a lack of resources and little to no one-on-one patient care.

"It frustrated me," Dugan said. "I actually did everything for Jim at the nursing home."

But the nursing home was the family's only option. This is a problem for families living in the area who have no alternative end-of-life care to turn to.

This is why the Dugans, along with the Corning Lions Club, are raising money to build a Comfort Care Home in Corning, dubbed Bampa's House.

"I think the family was frustrated in the length of travel that they would have had to take to the closest Comfort Care Home," said Edward Cordes, a member of the Corning Lions Club.

There are few Comfort Care Homes in the region. The closest to Corning is an hour-long drive to Penn Yan.

"There's quite a need, I believe. We get a lot of requests for a bed, for beds, and there are none available," said Rose Jensen, Keuka Comfort Care Home volunteer coordinator.

Keuka Comfort Care Home has room for two patients at a time, allowing them to provide the individual support people hope for. 

"This gives people an opportunity to just be with the loved one, not have to be the 24-hour caregiver of the loved one. So we take that burden away from the family," said Donna Payne, director of the Keuka Comfort Care Home.

The operation is run almost entirely by volunteers, and is free for participating families. The home is funded by donations and gifts from the community.

"We like to do our best to make their wishes come true, as far as how they would like to live their last days," Jensen said. "It's not really a place you come to die, it's a place you come to live the rest of your life."

So far, the Dugans have raised $100,000.

They need $700,000 to make their dream of seeing a home like this in the community, come true.

There are a number of fundraisers coming up in the community, to raise money for the home.

For more information, you can visit the Bampa's House website.