As the Co-founder and Executive Director of St. Marie’s Hospice, Melvie Berkery’s unwavering focus is not on becoming the biggest hospice provider, but rather, becoming the best provider for the Detroit community. As a humanitarian, Berkery operates from an advocating heart and a limitless mindset. To her, the best work ethic is a relentless commitment to excellence, consistent results, evolving efficiency and empowering productivity. Her dedication to uplifting humanity is innate and a badge of honor no accolade or award can fulfill, yet, her accomplishments on her journey thus far do shed some light on the woman.
Since co-founding St. Marie’s Hospice in 2012 with her aunt, Melvie has given 100 percent of herself to its continued excellence and impact. Moreover, she strives daily to elevate not only the bar for hospice services, but to elevate the understanding and expectations of what is necessary to deliver optimum final life stage care.
Inspired by the leadership of her mother and closest aunt, Melvie discovered a purpose in helping patients who were approaching the end of life. She often receives feedback of how surprised patients are of the efficiency and response speed of St. Marie’s. This speaks to the void Melvie aimed to fulfill specifically in the city of Detroit where such a dire need existed. Through her life work, Melvie follows the lead from her frontline staff, executing decisions based on their recommendations. She takes pride in maintaining a culture of excellence and effectiveness from every angle and role within her company which motivates her to take a “lead from the back” approach and to always keep an open mind.
Melvie’s dedication to enhancing the efficiency of hospice care involves wearing many hats to get things done right the first time. It’s the thriving philosophy and mission for which St. Marie’s stands in order to continue making its mark in the community.
A graduate of James Madison College at Michigan State University and the University of Detroit School of Law, Melvie has utilized her education in a way that has allowed her to fully embrace her calling through St. Marie’s. Her business and legal acumen has provided her the ability to ensure St. Marie’s is not only delivering incomparable service, but is also comprehensively managed and compliant at all times. Since its inception, St. Marie’s has expanded services to three buildings and has garnered optimum ranking among patients.
A native of Detroit, Melvie is a product of tenacious leaders. It was Melvie’s grandmother who instilled in her at the age of 12 to do every single thing she wanted to do in life and to understand that she held the control for her own decisions. Those mantras became her life philosophy and have carried her throughout every endeavor. Beyond earning her Bachelor of Arts in Social Relations with a Specialization in Criminal Justice as well her Juris Doctorate, Melvie’s advocating spirit led her to found a tutoring company dedicated to helping underprivileged youth. Through her efforts, over 275 individuals were helped to achieve academic goals. As an evolving change agent, Melvie has led the development of both local and international scholarship, adoption, volunteering and sponsorship projects which have impacted the lives of hundreds of others.
Melvie’s success is rooted deeply in her integrity. Her combined astuteness, assertiveness and fearlessness give rise to the change she wants to see and rather than simply observing community needs, she tackles them head on with compassion and discipline. She finds the beauty in the process of building efficiently and never settling for mediocrity. In doing so, she has earned the respect she rightfully deserves. By paying it forward to those in their final stage of life, Melvie spreads the message that we, as individuals, will always need one another in some way, shape or form—no matter how big or small—one does not achieve anything without helping hands or helping affirmations along the way. Melvie Berkery is a rare change agent, ensuring the needs of families are met through compassion, connection and execution in a way that is over and beyond exceptional. She does not settle for anything less than excellent, because it is what she knows every one of us deserves.
To find out more information go to www.stmarieshospice.org or call (800) 489-7977.
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