Nicole Clark: Hi, I'm Nicole, Executive Director of the Basin Good Neighbor Foundation. Today, I want to talk with you about something that I believe in is incredibly important to our community, but also something that many of us don't necessarily want to talk about, and that's end-of-life care. Most of us don't like to think about the possibility of losing someone we love. We don't want to imagine what those final days might look like or what decisions we might have to make.

But eventually, many of us will find ourselves in that position. And when that time comes, I believe everyone deserves to have choices. They deserve comfort. They deserve dignity. They deserve compassionate care, and their families deserve support. That's really where the mission of the Basin Good Neighbor Foundation begins. The Basin Good Neighbor Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arm of Basin Health Companies.

Our core mission is to help remove financial barriers to hospice care for patients and caregivers who are uninsured, underinsured, or experiencing financial hardship. Because of the reality is that sometimes people need hospice care, but finances can get in the way. And I don't believe someone's financial situation should determine whether they receive compassionate care at the end of their life. We believe everyone deserves quality of life at the end of life. That's not just a statement for us, it's the reason we exist. Hospice isn't about giving up. It's about changing the focus from trying to cure an illness to providing comfort, dignity, and the best possible quality of life for the time someone has remaining. And hospice doesn't just care for the patient, it supports the entire family.

This mission is especially meaningful to me because of my own experiences with loss. I've experienced the loss of both of my parents. And when you go through something like that, it changes the way you look at life. And it certainly changes the way you look at the end of life. You realize that the things that matter most aren't necessarily the big things. It's having your family close. It's being comfortable. It's having someone who understands what you're going through. It's about being treated with dignity. And it's being able to have those conversations and make those decisions before you're in a crisis. Those experiences have made me even more passionate about the work we're doing through the Basin Good Neighbor Foundation. Because when a family is facing one of the most difficult moments of their lives, they shouldn't also have to worry about whether they can afford the care and support they need.

That brings me to the next chapter of our vision: a community hospice house here in San Juan County. When I say hospice house, I don't want you to picture a hospital. I want you to picture a home, a warm, peaceful, welcoming place where someone can spend their final days surrounded by comfort, dignity, and the people they love.

Imagine walking through the front door and seeing family photos on the walls, a comfortable living room, a kitchen where a family can make coffee or share a meal, a quiet outdoor space, a patient's favorite blanket, their favorite music, their favorite family gathered around them. That's what we're envisioning: a place that feels like home, not a medical facility. And this could provide an option for someone who doesn't have an appropriate place to receive hospice care. Maybe they live alone. Maybe their home isn't accessible. Maybe their caregiver simply can't provide the level of care that's needed. Maybe they don't have family nearby, or maybe there are cultural and emotional barriers that prevent them from having this care in their home. We want to create another option, a place where someone can say, "This feels like home."

At the end of life, we can't change the diagnosis. We can't always change the circumstances, but we can change the experience. We can help make someone's remaining time more comfortable. We can give families a place to be together, a place to talk, a place to laugh and cry, a place to make memories. And sometimes the greatest gift we can give someone isn't more time, it's making the time they have meaningful, and that's what this vision is about.

But there's something I want everyone listening to understand. This isn't just our vision, it's a community vision. Building a hospice house will take all of us. It will take donors. It will take businesses and volunteers. It will take healthcare partnerships and community organizations, and it will take people who believe that everyone deserves dignity at the end of life.

We're starting the conversation now because we want our community to be a part of this vision. We want people to understand why this is needed. We want people to dream with us about what it could look like. And ultimately, we want to build something sustainable that will serve families in San Juan County for years to come.

So, how can you help, you may ask? There are many ways you can be a part of this vision. You can support the Basin Good Neighbor Foundation by donating. You can sponsor one of our fundraising events. You can volunteer. You can offer an in-kind donation. You can include us in your benefit-giving when you are planning your estate, or you can simply share our story.

And I think one of the most important things you can do is start talking about hospice with your family. Don't wait until you're in a crisis. Talk about what matters to you, talk about where you want to be, and talk about what quality of life means to you. Those conversations can make an incredibly difficult time a little easier for everyone.

So if you need assistance, you can find our application on our website at basingoodneighbor.org, or you can simply call our number and ask for me. That number is 505-325-8231, and start that conversation with us today.

I want to leave you with this final thought. End-of-life care isn't about how someone dies, it's about how we help them live until the very end. Everyone deserves comfort and dignity. Everyone deserves compassion, and every family deserves support. The Basin Good Neighbor Foundation is working to make sure that financial hardship doesn't prevent someone from receiving the hospice care they need, and our vision for a hospice house is the next step in that mission.

We are dreaming of a place where people can spend their final days in a home-like environment, surrounded by the people and things they love. This is bigger than a building. It's about creating a legacy of compassion for our community. It's about saying that in San Juan County, we believe every person matters from the beginning of life to the very end, and I hope you'll join us in making that vision a reality.

Again, that phone number, if you need to reach out to us, is 505-325-8231. The website is basingoodneighbor.org, and you can always follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates that we have for you. I'm Nicole, Executive Director of the Basin Good Neighbor Foundation, and our mission is simple: everyone deserves quality of life at the end of life. Thank you for joining me today and hearing what I have to say.