Jackson, CA…Hospice of Amador & Calaveras has been awarded a $2,500 grant from the Calaveras Community Foundation to fund the agency’s respite care program for Calaveras County patients and families. The announcement was made that Hospice of Amador & Calaveras would be one of 17 recipients to receive a portion of the $110,854 awarded in this year’s funding cycle.

Hospice of Amador & Calaveras Respite Care Program provides relief care to caregivers of the agency’s patients in the form of certified healthcare personnel in a patient’s home or overnight care in area hospitals and residential centers. Often, patient caregivers become depleted themselves, overwhelmed, or physically exhausted. Studies show that when caregivers are fully-functioning, patient quality of life improves greatly. When caregivers are not tending to their own lives or health, patients suffer as well. Medicare respite funds are limited; the hospice respite care program is a vital component for the agency to fulfill its mission to provide quality care to the dying while supporting caregivers.

HOAC Executive Director Ariane Debien said, “Respite care is an absolutely critical component of our agency’s mission. If caregivers are depleted, or not tending to their own lives, they cannot give patients what they need. Our primary purpose is to provide compassionate, end-of-life care to terminally ill patients, but we must support the caregivers in order to do that. We are beyond thrilled that the Calaveras Community Foundation is partnering with us to provide this care to our Calaveras County patients and families.”

Hospice of Amador & Calaveras is the two-county region’s only non-profit, 501(3)c hospice agency and was formed in 1982. In more than 39 years of its existence, the agency has never turned away a patient for inability to pay. For more information, please call 209-223-5500.
###