12 months
52 weeks
365 days
8,760 hours
creating moments that matter
HopeWest Annual Report 2023
Our Mission
Through creativity, volunteerism, and philanthropy, we profoundly change the experiences of aging, illness, and grief – one family at a time.
A letter from Cassie
Each moment of each day plays an important role in shaping our lives. At HopeWest, we are privileged to witness remarkable moments—where love becomes magnified, fear transforms into peace, and pain finds comfort.
What we do every day is possible because of your support. It is that simple. Thanks to you—volunteers, donors, and community partners—our team can focus on providing the highest quality of care, the same level of care we all want for our loved ones.
It is inspiring to walk alongside our team members.
Not only are they highly trained, they are passionate and dedicated. So, while we are reporting various statistics throughout this report, I never lose sight that behind every number is a person, a family and a story.
I am grateful for you and your continued dedication.
Cassie Mitchell
President & CEO
HopeWest volunteer Kathy visits with Athol, a HopeWest hospice patient in Montrose.
HopeWest volunteer Kathy visits with Athol, a HopeWest hospice patient in Montrose.
After several falls and losing his beloved wife, Athol felt worried and alone. He lives independently and was recently admitted as a hospice patient. With regular visits from his dedicated nurse, social worker, and volunteer, he has found a sense of security and confidence.
A stressful morning was met with reassurance and comfort as Athol takes a deep breath and his nurse listens to his lungs and makes adjustments to his oxygen flow. This check-up followed Athol’s concern of feeling lightheaded and not only provided prompt medical attention, but peace-of-mind.
Knowing his care team is just a phone call away, Athol can continue living confidently in the comfort and familiarity of his own home.
Hospice Patients Served in 2023
Hospice Care
Hospice care ensures patients and families can navigate serious illness with dignity, support, and respect. Through personalized care plans, emotional and spiritual support, and pain management, skilled team members ensure every person is honored with a dignified final journey.
Palliative Care Patients Served in 2023
Palliative Care
Specializing in symptom management, the Palliative Care program is designed to manage pain, discomfort, and other distressing symptoms associated with serious illness. The goal of the program is to help patients sustain their quality of life.
Walking with her beloved dog, visiting with her sister, enjoying time with her friends - these joyful, everyday things still happen for Emma Lou with the help of her HopeWest palliative care team.
Most would not know Emma Lou has a heart condition and legal blindness. Staying active could be an insurmountable challenge for most, but her passion for living a vibrant life and the guarantee of support from her care team, she can remain involved in her community and continue doing what she loves.
With her passion for living a vibrant life intact, Emma Lou relies on her guardian angels, as she calls her devoted care team, who tailor her care and meet her unique medical needs.
Emma Lou walks in downtown Meeker with her dog CiCi and her HopeWest volunteers Peggy (left) and Pearl (right).
LeEtta’s daughter Kathy, LeEtta, and Cody enjoy time at the PACE Day Center in Grand Junction.
PACE Participants Served in 2023
PACE
HopeWest PACE serves seniors from all walks of life, providing comprehensive benefits including primary care, medication management, social support, physical therapy, transportation and much more. This unique approach to senior healthcare provides access to a wide range of services designed to keep aging adults healthy and living safely in their own homes and communities.
Twice a week, LeEtta's daughter helps her into the car for a drive to the PACE Day Center. They chat about everything, and laughter fills the car.
This weekly ritual is LeEtta’s bonus time with her daughter thanks to her enrollment in the HopeWest PACE program.
At the Center, she is warmly welcomed by care staff and fellow participants who look forward to their time together over lunch, crafts, movies, and games. Additionally, LeEtta receives regular medical care at the onsite PACE clinic, such as blood draws and primary care visits.
This comprehensive approach to care allows her to safely continue living at home, enhances her quality of life, and ensures that her social and medical needs are met.
Adults Received Grief Support Served in 2023
Adult Grief Support
Adult Grief Support at HopeWest is specifically designed for those navigating the loss of a loved one. Knowing grief and experiences are unique to each person, there are various support services available, including phone calls, one-on-one counseling, and peer groups. With the guidance of professional counselors and the connections made with others, adults can learn how to cope with grief and find healing.
In his final moments, Wilma’s husband asked her to give back to HopeWest what has been given to him—exceptional care and support.
Because of this support, Wilma was able to sit by her husband’s side, without worry, cherishing their 60 years together.
Despite the peaceful nature of her husband’s passing, Wilma faced a rollercoaster of emotions during her grieving process. She sought support through the bereavement program with individual counseling and grief groups, where connecting with others in similar situations brought her comfort, peace, and healing.
Further inspired by her experience with HopeWest grief support, Wilma has been able to honor her husband’s wish and give back to others. She now helps lead a support group serving as a resource for helping others on their grief journey.
HopeWest Delta Bereavement & Youth Coordinator Claire and HopeWest Grief Support Participant and Volunteer Wilma.
HopeWest Kids Participants Reese and Julia work on an art therapy project.
HopeWest Kids Participants Reese and Julia work on an art therapy project.
Friendships run deep in their small town of Collbran, Colorado. When sisters, Julia and Reese lost their beloved uncle, the community surrounded them and their family with love and support.
At first the girls were unsure how to handle their grief and were silently working through a mix of emotions. Soon, Julia and Reese began attending HopeWest Kids grief groups and summer camp to learn coping skills and connect with other kids going through similar experiences.
One activity in particular, art therapy collage-making, resonated with each of them. They were able to express themselves through images, which helped convey feelings without words. This powerful exercise, often used by HopeWest Kids counselors, helped unpack the complicated emotions of their grief and move them forward on their journey to healing.
Kids Received Grief Support
HopeWest Kids
Through personalized grief education and counseling, the HopeWest Kids program guides children and families as they explore, understand, and express their personal grief experiences. Our specialized youth counselors create a safe and welcoming environment while utilizing techniques that best fit each child and teen.
Ferris Care Center Patients Served in 2023
Ferris Hospice Care Center
The Mike and Kay Ferris Hospice Care Center, is simply extraordinary. Its warm design brings comfort to all who enter. The building and the grounds, located in Grand Junction and available to patients across the Western Slope, are designed for exceptional comfort and caring.
The Care Center is designed to meet the needs of hospice patients and their families on a short-term basis when a more intensive level of care is needed—a level that is difficult to provide in the home.
"We’re certain countless others have stood where we stand, walked the path we walked, and have no doubt, struggled to find sufficient words of thanks to offer every member of the Hospice Care Center team.
During what is surely one of the more difficult, stressful, and heart wrenching trials a family can experience; the Care Center and compassionate, caring staff bring grace, beauty, wisdom, serenity, and dignity to life’s final transition.”
–Note from a Grateful Family
Heirlooms Volunteer Sonya sorts donations with other volunteers at the Grand Junction Heirlooms.
$495,000
Contributed by Heirlooms
Heirlooms
Heirlooms for Hospice recognizes the significance of belongings in telling life stories, even after we’re gone. By offering solace to families, Heirlooms becomes a source of legacy and purpose, funding continued exceptional care at HopeWest.
Many families choose to donate their loved one’s belongings to Heirlooms and though it may not be recognized at the time, the decision surrounding what to do with possessions left behind is an important part of the grieving process.
Heirlooms serves as a safe place for these items to find new homes and simultaneously serves a greater purpose beyond a resale shop.
Family members have shared tears as they entrust Heirlooms with fine clothes or cherished treasures from their loved ones. Heirlooms team members and volunteers, many who have had their own experience with HopeWest, welcome these individuals with kindness, respect, and understanding, and provide a comforting presence during what can be an emotional experience.
Find Heirlooms for Hospice stores in Delta, Grand Junction, and Montrose.
Remarkable generosity creates remarkable moments
$4,118,842
Philanthropic Dollars Raised in 2023
Philanthropy: (noun) a spirit of goodwill toward all people, especially expressed in active efforts to help others; a charitable act or donation.
It takes just a moment to feel inspired and another to act on inspiration, but the impact of generosity on a person can last an entire lifetime.
Understanding the significance of moments and their power to define an experience, HopeWest provides unwavering care along the journey, knowing that the generosity of the community helps transform these moments into something truly remarkable.
Your continued support of the HopeWest mission helps make exceptional care possible—thank you.
How Philanthropic Dollars
are Raised
40% Memorial & General Donations
23% Fundraising Events
12% Endowment
12% Heirlooms Stores
8% Planned Giving
3% Circle of Hope Monthly Gifts
2% Grants
Volunteer Hours Given by 1,077 Volunteers
This is an equivalent of 37 full-time team members and represents $2.45M in savings.
$93,572
Tips Received at Spoons bistro & bakery*
Originally intended to serve patients at the Ferris Hospice Care Center, Spoons has become a community favorite that supports the mission of HopeWest. All tips benefit HopeWest programs.
*Included in General Donations
In the making of moments…
425
HopeWest Team Members
482
Veterans Served
2,454
Prescriptions Filled
15,680
Van Trips for PACE Participants
643,026
miles traveled to provide hospice care