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Where do they die? #hospice4homeless [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-06-11  

We as a nation are rightly concerned about where people experiencing homelessness are going to live, but are we asking, where do they die? This a vital question that few are asking and fewer can answer.



Hospice agencies are designed to assist in a person's home and are not shelters. Hospice does not provide round the clock care as they depend on the families and friends of the person receiving care to fill that gap. They particularly struggle to provide care to folks on the streets.



Difficulty in care for people experiencing homelessness is magnified by all the typical problems people face when they are unhoused. Preexisting addiction, families who won’t or can’t support a client, mental health issue, inability to store and manage pain killers, all these conditions increase the difficulty for Hospice agencies to manage care for those who have terminal illnesses.



Inpatient facilities are few and far between. Skilled nursing facilities are difficult to obtain for the unhoused, especially as the need is sudden and there’s no time for required paperwork.



Homeless shelters meet immediate, short-term needs and are not designed to assist hospice patients who may need individual, custodial, family style care for weeks, with privacy and control of medications that simply is not possible in a general shelter.



Rocky Mountain Refuge is one of a handful of shelters nationwide that provides a place for people experiencing homelessness to receive end of life care. We (like many nonprofits) have struggled to stay open over the last couple of years. However I’ve announced to our local community (Denver metro) and now to DKos that we are poised to reopen on July 1, 2024!

We rent two rooms in an old motel that was converted to a shelter. Our beds will fill up fast and our waiting list typically has 2-6 individuals on it at any given time.

Please consider donating to us to keep this vital resource available to our unhoused friends as they face the end of their journey.



To donate, click here

If you have any questions, please message me.

Thanks in advance for anything you can give.

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