About Joshua’s House Volunteer Hospice
- Joshua’s House Volunteer Hospice (JHVH) will provide comfort care to up to 15 terminally ill homeless people from the Sacramento area. It will be the first hospice for terminally ill homeless people in California on the West Coast and one of only a few in the country.
- JHVH will remain a referral hospice facility only, never wavering from providing comfort care to terminally ill homeless men and women during its 50-year lease of the property.
- JHVH will be on a secured property with landscape screening, fencing and security staff to ensure the privacy of both patients and local residents. The opening driveway and sidewalk access to JHVH will be on Larchwood Drive.
- Between 20% and 25% of homeless people die from terminal illnesses such as COPD, cancer, and heart disease. After diagnosis, they typically only live for a few months. Most homeless people are disconnected from families and do not have family members who can help care for them. In 2021, more than 190 homeless individuals died on Sacramento’s streets and along our rivers.
- Patients will be referred to JHVH through local health systems when they are deemed eligible for end-of-life care. The facility will only accept referrals from these systems and is not a walk-in service. It will not provide other services for the greater homeless community.
- Staff and volunteers at JHVH will include certified end-of-life doulas, hospice workers provided through the referring health systems, and vetted volunteers who will provide peace and comfort, meals, and music, art and writing therapy.
- JHVH will be the first such facility to offer educational opportunities for medical and nursing students through on-site course work study and internships.
- JHVH is named in honor of the grandson of its founder who tragically died alone on the streets. No one should have to pass from this life without comfort, care and support.
For more information, please contact Marlene M. von Friederichs-Fitzwater, MA, Ph.D., MPH, Founder and CEO, at mfitzwater@thehcri.org
