Hospice of the North Coast Gets $1M Grant from City for Hospice House in Carlsbad

Hospice of the North Coast (HNC) is very pleased to announce that it has received a $1,065,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the City of Carlsbad for the purchase of a six-bedroom Hospice House residential facility in Carlsbad. The residence will be the first such facility in North County. The City Council announced the grant award at its January 29, 2013 meeting.

City of Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall states, “Hospice of the North Coast has demonstrated its commitment to serving terminally ill clients, their families and the community since 1980. The City of Carlsbad is pleased to partner with this worthy, Carlsbad-based organization to offer a welcome home for people to die in peace and comfort.”

Located in a tranquil “Olde” Carlsbad neighborhood, the nearly 4,500-square-foot property on almost three-quarters of an acre was designed and built in 2003 as a residential care facility for the elderly, making it an ideal acquisition for HNC. The turnkey nature of the project brings significant cost efficiency; no structural modifications will be required for start-up.

HNC Executive Director Nerice Kaufman believes, “The grant-funded project represents a strong and enduring bond between the City of Carlsbad, Hospice of the North Coast and residents facing a challenging life-into-death transition who need us most. Our Hospice House will offer a warm, homelike environment where patients and their loved ones can spend their last days together in serenity and comfort.”

HNC will provide all levels of hospice care within the residential setting, with an emphasis on those with the highest level of need. Patients can depend upon a medical team that includes physicians, nurses, social workers, spiritual providers and integrative therapists. Clients will be accepted based on a physician order and based on Medicare regulations regarding appropriateness for hospice.

Kaufman says the need is great. “California ranks 47th nationally in availability of hospice house beds. As a result, many patients suffer unnecessarily because of limited options for placement if they are unable to stay in their own home. Here at HNC, our mission is helping people have a peaceful life-through-death experience. Thanks to our selection as sole 2013 CDBG recipient by the City of Carlsbad, and to the generosity of current and future donors, we will be able to provide an intimate environment in which people, no matter what their financial or life circumstances, can end their days with grace, dignity and high-level professional care in a warm, compassionate home setting.”

More information about HNC’s Hospice House will be forthcoming as the project moves forward. 

Past City of Carlsbad CDBG grants have funded an array of programs; previous recipients include Casa de Amparo, Women’s Resource Center and other organizations operating in Carlsbad and neighboring communities. For more CDBG information, visit portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/comm_planning/communitydevelopment/programs.

–HNC Press Release