Over the last year, Journey Home Hospice, a program of the Saint Elizabeth Foundation, has been blazing trails as a thought leader and exchanging knowledge with national and international organizations to make a difference in the lives of people most in need at end-of-life.
As a teaching and learning facility, we are always thrilled to welcome out-of-town visitors to the hospice, interested in learning moreabout our specialized models of care to implement trauma-informed, culturally safe, and harm-reducing approaches to care in their home communities. We welcomed Jillian & Jeremiah from Salt Lake City, Utah’s The INN Between, which provides medical respite and end-of-life care for people experiencing homelessness. It’s always so wonderful to share ideas back & forth, learn from one another, and discuss best practices in specialized end-of-life care for people experiencing homelessness.
Making the trek from even further abroad, Julien O’Connell, Chair, and Sonya Smart, CEO, of Villa Maria Catholic Homes (VCMH) in Melbourne. An organization with a similar longevity to SE (100+ years of caring), VCMH supports people and families to live their best lives, providing a place to call home and spaces to learn and grow. It was a true honour to learn from each other & look at ways to collaborate – palliative care is truly an international movement.
We were also excited to host Archbishop Francis Leo and members of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Toronto for a tour of Journey Home Hospice. Archbishop Leo was interested to hear about the wide range of services offered by the hospice, our Foundation’s mission to support end-of-life journeys for all people in need and is keen to promote volunteerism at the hospice!
As part of our national strategy, the Journey Home Hospice team has also been working with other hospices in British Columbia, Alberta, and Nova Scotia to catalyze new specialized programs specifically for structurally vulnerable people. For the last several years, the Saint Elizabeth Foundation and Journey Home Hospice teams has been supporting The Overlook Hospice, a program of the North End Community Health Centre (NECHC) in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Responding to the homelessness crisis in their city, NECHC reached out to the Foundation for our help developing specialized programs and services like Journey Home Hospice.
In November, we made the trip to visit The Overlook Hospice and meet with the team providing care. Unfortunately, the change in government in Nova Scotia has delayed the full opening of their hospice beds, but we continue to support NECHC in developing alternative models of care to maximize sustainability and program safety.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our donors and supporters who have made this work possible. With your help we have been making a difference across Canada for people in need and advancing the future of end-of-life care.