A local adult foster care home that is transitioning to specialize in end of life care will hold an open house this weekend.

The event for the Guest House of Fowlerville will be held Sunday from 1 to 4pm at the residence, located at 135 Free Street. The open house is described as an opportunity for community members to learn more about the Guest House and its mission to provide 24-hour compassionate care, and a peaceful life and passing for those that are terminally ill.

Registered Nurse Jennifer Fargo is a certified End of Life Doula who purchased the adult foster care home this past March. Since that time, she has been working to transition the building into a hospice home that specializes in end of life care. She also has a goal in the coming year for the Guest House of Fowlerville to become a social model hospice home, which means its residents would be able to live there for free. Fargo created a nonprofit called the Risberg Hospice Foundation which raises funds to assist terminal individuals that don’t have the means to afford that kind of care and a peaceful environment to live and pass at.

Fargo says everyone deserves to have a peaceful death but that doesn’t always happen, which is why the mission of Guest House is her calling. Citing her philosophy to "pay it forward" she adds, "My goal is to love on people no matter where they’re coming from because we all go out the same way."

Fargo says many people who are at the end of their life want to be able to pass at home, but can’t always do so for a number of reasons. She tells WHMI, "We live in a society that doesn’t like to talk about death…and I’m very passionate about educating the community on options and choices and how it doesn’t have to be this horrific, critical crisis. If you are prepared it can be a very peaceful thing. We’re all going to face it with our families and ourselves one day and I’d rather help people be more prepared for it than pretend it doesn’t exist.”

Fargo says this weekend’s open house will allow visitors to see and understand the environment; reiterating that she doesn’t like to call it a facility but instead, a home. More information about the Guest House of Fowlerville and its open house can be found at the link below. (DK)


Photo courtesy of Guest House of Fowlerville website.