NEWSFEED

CEO Message: August 2024

Pictured: Former CEO/President Siobhan Greene and
current CEO/President Erin White, with founding CEO Alice Kinsler

Dear Friends,

I am delighted to join Hospice Giving Foundation as its third President & CEO, following the visionary leadership of founding CEO, Alice Kinsler, and most recently, Siobhan Greene. Both have significantly impacted end-of-life care in our community and transformed the conversations we’re having about it.

Though I am new to the field of end-of-life care, I have spent most of my life in education, particularly in Monterey County. The core question I’ve always grappled with remains the same: How do we use our time on this earth to create more meaning and purpose in our lives and for others? In my opinion, nothing addresses this question more squarely than discussions about our mortality. This is a fundamental inquiry at the heart of many spiritual, religious, and even performance coaching practices, guiding us to what truly matters. As an early student of philosophy who has spent a career at the intersection of community needs and good business practice, I am grateful for the opportunity to bring my perspective and experience to HG Foundation.

Over the past few months, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting HG Foundation’s grantees and participating in our monthly workshops as founding members of the Monterey County Palliative Care Collaborative. It’s become clear to me that HG Foundation is a true partner to service providers—whether hospice organizations, palliative care teams at local hospitals, or grassroots groups meeting the basic needs of families enduring terminal illness. With your support, HG Foundation steps in where insurance reimbursements do not, providing the resources necessary for innovative care and quality-of-life improvements. For instance, we’ve supported initiatives like adding acupuncture to the palliative care program at Salinas Valley Health, we have helped establish Jerry’s Place—a social model hospice that offers dignity and comfort to those with nowhere else to go, and we assist small, under-resourced organizations that help families with children facing serious illness by providing transportation, groceries, and even rental assistance when parents are forced to take a leave of absence from work.

What’s most remarkable is that when we give local healthcare providers a platform for innovation, they deliver results. Often, these innovations are integrated into the providers’ operating budgets, ensuring long-term benefits for our entire community.

In this way, HG Foundation is a true change-maker, consistently partnering with local care providers to improve, innovate, and enhance life for those facing end-of-life and their loved ones.

I look forward to sharing more with you in the coming months as we engage in conversations with service providers and caregivers about the biggest challenges they and their patients face. With your support, HG Foundation will continue to be a creative, resourceful, and dedicated partner, helping our community “think outside the box” and meet its healthcare goals. For example, The Siobhan Greene Care and Dignity Fund, which recently surpassed $100,000 in contributions and pledges, has just begun accepting applications for this year’s round of grants to individuals and families facing emergency needs due to end of life. Your contributions, continued interest, and partnership in this project and others have given this new team and chapter at Hospice Giving Foundation a great start.

In gratitude,

Erin White
President & CEO