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Jill McClennen hosts a conversation with David Zartman and Joanna Franco from Caring House, a nonprofit hospice home in Torrance, California. They explain that Caring House serves people in the final days or weeks of a hospice journey, staffed 24/7 by caregivers, and works with many hospice agencies because it is a non-medical residential care facility. 

Families can visit freely, often stay overnight in reclining chairs, and may bring pets; volunteers include chefs, death doulas, and therapy dogs. The guests describe funding through pay-what-you-can fees, donations, grants, and fundraisers, with no one turned away for inability to pay. They discuss rituals, honoring residents after death, flexible time for families to stay, and staff debriefing and grief.

00:00 What Caring House Is

00:15 Meet the Host

01:25 Meet David and Joanna

02:35 Why Caring House Is Different

03:37 Who It Serves

04:25 Working With Hospices

06:43 Life at End of Life

08:39 Food and Volunteers

09:34 Staffing and Overnight Family

12:50 Admissions and Waitlist

13:59 Nonprofit Funding Model

16:14 Hospice Coverage Reality

18:57 Death Doulas in House

20:09 Facing Death and Control

23:53 Grief Lessons From Work

25:27 Losing Sandra Young

26:11 Lessons From Grief

26:49 Staff Facing Death Daily

29:41 Honoring Residents After Death

30:58 Family Time After Passing

33:57 Rituals Music And Goodbyes

35:51 Pets And Therapy Dogs

38:10 Why Caring Houses Matter

43:46 Support Donate And Connect

45:39 Final Thanks And Planning Help

https://www.yourcaringhouse.org/

https://www.instagram.com/yourcaringhouse/

https://www.facebook.com/YourCaringHouse/

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