hospice care

“There’s incredible power in sharing with a group of people who are going through similar experiences,” says Joan*. After the devastating and sudden loss of her wife of nearly 40 years, Joan’s world felt empty, and she struggled to find meaning and connection in the aftermath. For months, Joan’s grief consumed her in ways that felt deeply isolating and insurmountable. When a friend recommended that she join a grief support group at YoloCares, a nonprofit hospice in Davis, Joan discovered that sharing her story with a community of fellow grievers helped her forge a path forward. […]

While death and dying are universal, the end of each life is a unique experience—one that can be filled with gray ethical areas that challenge even the best hospice professionals to seek wisdom. To help nonprofit hospices best serve patients and their loved ones, a group of Northern California hospice agencies have launched a new and vital project: “Practicing Wisdom, the Ethics Committee of the California Hospice Network.” […]

After nearly 20 years, Gwendolyn Kaltoft, chief of quality, compliance, and education, was set to retire from her post at YoloCares, a nonprofit community-based hospice in Davis, California. A determined and spirited woman, she had watched YoloCares balloon from a census of 30 to 130 over two decades and led the development of YoloCares’ community-based palliative care program, the first of its kind in Northern California. […]

The patients at an AIDS hospice facility in San Francisco were nearing the end of their lives. A volunteer visitor was nearing a turning point in hers. Cathy Conway had enjoyed success in the corporate world early in her career but was looking for something more meaningful. […]

Madalon Amenta, a founding mother of hospice in the United States and board member of YoloCares in Davis, has often said, “The roots of America’s modern hospice industry stem from the civil rights era. Hospice itself was a powerful grassroots movement long before it became an industry.” […]