Hospice care has come a long way in the more than 30 years since the founding of VITAS Innovative Hospice Care^®, and we’re committed to developing its future. The VITAS Hospice Charitable Fund is a not-for-profit organization seeking to improve end-of-life care for individual patients and their families while supporting groundbreaking research and fundamental social change.  Learn about how the VITAS Hospice Charitable Fund is working in Illinois.

The fund’s activities are directed toward four core missions: special needs, bereavement, research and education.

• Special Needs Grants for Patients and Families: From buying an air conditioner for a patient’s stifling apartment to helping loved ones fly in for final farewells, these grants cover extraordinary expenses that lie outside the realm of hospice care but are critical to a patient’s comfort or piece of mind.
• Assistance for Bereavement Programs: The fund assists the Hospice Foundation of America in implementing programs such as clergy-to-clergy services, grief counseling activities and the annual National Bereavement Teleconference.
• Research Grants and Partnerships: Grants are awarded to support promising research at sites around the country, including hospices, teaching hospitals and academic research centers.
• The Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life: As a founding benefactor, the fund is a major supporter of the nation’s first comprehensive institute for the advancement of research, education and caregiving for those near death.
   

For more information, visit vitascharityfund.org.