Community Grants Help Preserve Life Stories and Family Legacies
New legacy journal projects at HomeCare & Hospice and Total Senior Care are giving patients and participants a meaningful way to reflect on their lives and preserve memories for loved ones.
PHOTO CAPTION: HomeCare & Hospice social workers look through guided legacy journals that will be offered to hospice patients through the new Legacy Reflections project.OLEAN - Memories, family traditions, life lessons, and favorite moments can take on even greater meaning when they are shared. Two new projects at HomeCare & Hospice and Total Senior Care will provide guided journals to help patients and participants reflect, connect, and preserve those memories for loved ones.
Both organizations recently received funding from the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation Community Fund to introduce guided legacy journals to the individuals and families they serve. While the programs will be used in different ways, both are built around a shared idea: creating opportunities for reflection, storytelling, and meaningful connection.
HomeCare & Hospice’s Legacy Reflections project will offer guided journals to hospice patients interested in recording memories, reflecting on their lives, and sharing stories or messages with loved ones. Staff can help patients and families use the journals in whatever way feels comfortable and meaningful to them.
The project builds on conversations that often occur naturally during hospice care and provides a simple way to capture memories that otherwise might go unrecorded. The journals can also become treasured keepsakes for families during bereavement and in the years ahead.
At Total Senior Care, the Living Legacy project will use guided journals with PACE participants to encourage storytelling, memory recall, and conversation. Thoughtful prompts will invite participants to reflect on life experiences while supporting social engagement, emotional wellbeing, and a continued sense of identity and purpose.
“Every person we care for has a lifetime of stories, experiences and memories that have shaped who they are,” said Melissa Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of HomeCare & Hospice and Total Senior Care. “These journals give people an opportunity to pause, remember, and share some of those stories in their own way and at their own pace. For families, they can become something incredibly meaningful to hold onto.”
She continued, “We are grateful to the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation for helping us create these opportunities for connection across both of our organizations.”
Funding will support approximately 50 guided journals and related materials for HomeCare & Hospice and 60 for Total Senior Care, allowing both programs to be offered at no cost to those participating.
“The Community Fund gives CRCF the flexibility to respond to a wide range of needs and opportunities throughout Cattaraugus County,” said Kirk Windus, Executive Director of the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation. “Projects like these demonstrate how thoughtful, achievable ideas can have a meaningful impact by strengthening connection and supporting the well-being of people in our community.”
Staff at both organizations will help introduce the journals and support patients, participants and families who choose to take part, allowing each person to use the journals in a way that feels comfortable and meaningful to them.
Together, the projects will provide another way for HomeCare & Hospice and Total Senior Care to support not only physical health and care needs, but also the connections, memories, and relationships that contribute to quality of life.
To learn more about the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation or to support projects like these through a donation to the Community Fund, call 716-301-2723 or visit cattfoundation.org. For more information about HomeCare & Hospice, visit homecare-hospice.org. For information about Total Senior Care and the PACE program, visit totalseniorcare.org.