'Die with dignity': New Grace House Akron works to ensure no one dies alone
Betty Lin-Fisher
In 2014, Holly Klein and Cindy Browning, then Summa hospice workers, noticed there were people dying alone and without any support.
The then team leader and nurse educator began their eight-year journey to create a hospice center to care for dying patients who don’t have a home or caregivers at the end of their life.
More:Group seeks to help Akron’s homeless, poor die with dignity in free hospice house
On Friday, community leaders and advocates toured Grace House Akron, which will provide end-of-life care and support for residents who are homeless or in financial need.
Grace House Akron hopes to have its first residents by the end of July. Supply-chain issues have delayed the electrical work at the house.
“This is a very peaceful place to be,” said Nick Browning, president of the Mahoning/Akron/Canton Huntington Bank region and president of the Grace House board, said Friday during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“Our job is to help those who are terminally ill and have no money and no one to take care of you at the end of your life. To do that without somebody by your side or by your bedside is a lonely thing. We are dedicated to making sure that everyone has the opportunity to die with dignity and not to die alone,” said Browning, who is also co-founder of Grace House Akron with his wife, Cindy, and Klein.
How will Grace House Akron work?
Grace House Akron is a nonprofit organization with 70 community members who have served on various boards to get it ready. There are 60 volunteers trained and Klein is serving as executive director.
Hospice care often is paid for by Medicare and Medicaid. Some patients stay at inpatient facilities, such as those run by Summa Health or Cleveland Clinic Akron General.
But under federal Medicare guidelines, only the most seriously ill patients or those who are days or hours from death and are in severe pain are usually in those facilities.
Home hospice benefits don’t cover basic caregiver services, such as 24-hour care or feeding.
At Grace House, hospice services will be provided by other professionals through Medicaid, Medicare or indigent-care programs, said Klein.
The caregiving and all services provided by Grace House will be free for patients.
More:Grace House Akron, hospice for homeless or those without caregivers, continues fundraising
The organization raised $4 million. The city of Akron and Summit County provided $300,000 each to get the group to its financial goal, which includes two years of operations.
Continued fundraising and applications for grants will fund the house moving forward, said Klein.
The name Grace House was chosen because the word grace “in many languages means favor or gift,” said Klein, a hospice nurse for 20 years. Organizers modeled the house after a similar charity called Malachi House in Cleveland.
The 6300-square-feet house has six private bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. Food services will be provided by volunteer chefs.
Volunteers will be key
Volunteers will be the heart of caregiving services, including massages, music and art therapy, pet therapy, spiritual needs and companionship.
“We will have volunteers around the clock, but most of the volunteers will be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. I would love to see us hit 100 and that could include people just dropping off meals,” said Klein. “Our goal is that our caregivers assisted by volunteers in four-hour shifts.”
Volunteers can “just come in and sit with the resident. If a resident has a hobby, the volunteer can come in and play cards or do puzzles. When the courtyard is done later this fall, there will be gardening and upkeep needs,” said Klein.
There also will be “vigil companions” to have someone sitting with a resident as the person is dying, she said.
Volunteer applications can be found on the house’s website, www.gracehouseakron.org/
There will be a total of about 10 full-time and part-time staffers at Grace House, said Klein. Cindy Browning will serve as an unpaid full-time assistant director.
Information for those seeking care
Klein said she anticipates the six-bedroom house getting filled quickly with a waiting list as soon as it is ready for residents in late July. Grace House will work with hospice programs to coordinate care.
Potential residents or people who know of someone in need of hospice care without the financial means can also call Grace House and Klein said staff will help get care coordinated. Call 800-715-1156.
To qualify for the free hospice program, patients must prove they can’t afford a caregiver or don’t have access to a caregiver.
“Initially, our length of stay is going to be shorter because we’re going to triage the ones with the most need. We’ll look at symptoms, home environment and whether it’s safe,” said Klein. “As time goes on, I think our length of stay will lengthen. I would love 45 days."
The national average stay at a hospice is seven days or less for 30% of hospice provider admissions, Klein said. She anticipates Grace House will have similar stays.
“Some will be longer, some will be shorter. I hope somebody wouldn’t come in and pass away right away, that we would have a little more,” she said.
Grace House located near St. Thomas Hospital
A public open house will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 25.
The house was built on land purchased in May 2019 near Summa St. Thomas Hospital from Summa Health for $10.
The 0.7-acre corner lot is at 475 N. Howard St. at Olive Street (also known as Dr. Bob’s Way in honor of the Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder).
Summa CEO Dr. Cliff Deveny said the health system is happy to be a part of the Grace House efforts. Summa was also pleased to provide the land for the house for a deeply discounted rate, he said.
“The neighborhood is transitioning with the International Institute homes next door and Summa will soon be decommissioning St. Thomas (hospital) and hoping to continue with the evolution of this neighborhood to see it come back,” Deveny said. Summa is building a new 60-bed behavioral health facility on the Akron City Hospital campus to transfer care from St. Thomas. It is slated to be completed by the first quarter of 2023.
More:Fate of St. Thomas Hospital unclear as new Summa behavioral health building takes shape
Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan said he has watched Grace House being built as he drove past the lot on his way home daily.
“It’s more than an empty lot. It’s exactly the testament of what this community is and that’s with its hand wide open and its heart taking care of people,” said the mayor.
Community reaction
Community members and volunteers who toured the facility on Friday said they were looking forward to opening the doors to residents.
“I’m just delighted to have this here and see Holly’s vision and the Brownings’ vision come to bear,” said Anthony Burwell, a chaplain at Summa Hospice and an elder at St. Ashworth Temple Church of God in Christ in Akron who is also president of the board for Red Oak Behavioral Health.
Kevin DeJournett, a Summa hospice chaplain who will be volunteering and will serve on the spiritual advisory board, said: “Dying alone is just something that I don’t even want to imagine. Dying with dignity means a lot to the patient who is dying and us as well.”
Beacon Journal staff reporter Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ To see her most recent stories and columns, go to www.tinyurl.com/bettylinfisher