Since 1987, Portland’s Hopewell House has provided care to more than 10,000 dying people and their families, including my father-in-law in 2016 and the brother of a former partner in the mid-1990s. It was that earlier death that introduced me to the rituals that mark each final exhale at Hopewell House. As I remember it then, a handmade quilt was placed over the body, staff and volunteers formed a corridor of honor as the body was removed, and the room left was with the quilt on the bed for the next 24 hours to hold space for transition.
Today, simple but deep honoring rituals are alive once more in this beautiful space in southwest Portland. Those handmade quilts are given to family members after the “walk out” for each resident who has died. Candles are lit, windows are opened, and the room rests for 24 hours before another resident is welcomed. Once a month names are inscribed on hearts, and annually these names are read aloud in a community ceremony.
The many forms of care provided at Hopewell House as a residential hospice were paused after 33 years when its final owner closed the doors in 2019. Almost immediately, longtime volunteers and other members of the community began meeting as Friends of Hopewell House to find a way to acquire the property and restore its mission. Through countless meetings throughout the pandemic, skillful negotiations, wide ranging research and planning, and the generosity of many donors, they succeeded.
In January 2023, Hopewell House reopened as a licensed residential care facility, providing care for those who are dying and support for their families and loved ones.
Following the model pioneered by the Omega Home Network, residents enroll in the Medicare-certified hospice provider of their choice, which handles medical care and pain and symptom management. As Omega says, “On average across the community, hospice service teams visit their patients for five to ten hours per week. We are with their patients (our residents) 24/7.”
Hopewell House amenities include lovingly-tended gardens and 4.5 wooded acres outside every window of the original Tudor home and its newly remodeled wing of resident care rooms, wholesome meals and snacks for residents and families, family resting and gathering spaces, and a wide range of complementary care and bereavement support.
I was honored to support the work of the planning team in the early stages and then to help launch the volunteer in-service program in 2022 with three programs: “Death As Our Teacher,” “The Grief of These Times & The Skill of Heartbrokenness,” and “Death Doulas: What, Who, How & Why?”
You can support and follow the work of Hopewell House by signing up for their newsletter. And if you’re in town, pay a visit to this special place by joining one of the Tea and Tour events organized by Development Director Susan Prior.
Photo of naming hearts used in a monthly honoring ritual courtesy of Hopewell House. Read more about my heart connection to Susan Prior.