Individual & Family Assistance Grants

The Heartland Hospice Memorial Fund provides financial assistance for terminally ill individuals and their families who are experiencing financial distress due to a terminal diagnosis and who are unable to pay for basic needs. The Heartland Hospice Memorial Fund will consider grant requests from any patient that has a terminal diagnosis, regardless of care-provider.

In order to adhere to IRS guidelines for charitable giving, the Heartland Hospice Memorial Fund must collect detailed financial information from the patient and/or the family member applying for grant assistance. This information is then used to determine the level of financial need of the applicant.

  1. Individual or family assistance can only be made if the individual or family are considered “needy and distressed.” The IRS guidelines define this requirement as:
    1. Persons impoverished as a result of low income and lack of resources
    2. Persons temporarily in need of food or shelter when stranded, injured or lost because of fire, flood, accident or other natural disaster
    3. Victims of civil disturbance
    4. Persons temporarily unable to be self-sufficient as a result of a sudden and severe personal or family crisis
    5. Refugees or immigrants experiencing language, cultural or financial difficulties
  2. The Heartland Hospice Memorial Fund cannot pay for expenses that fall under the responsibility of the hospice agency in its mission to provide the appropriate level of care required by the patient (and covered by the hospice benefit). Following, are some examples:
    1. A communication device needed to adequately communicate with a patient because he/she is hearing-impaired would not be supported by the Heartland Hospice Memorial Fund because it is a necessary component in the delivery of hospice care and should be covered by the hospice benefit.
    2. Home health aide services for a hospice patient would not be supported by the Hospice Memorial Fund because this would be the responsibility of the hospice agency to provide the level of care required by the patient.
  3. The Heartland Hospice Memorial Fund will not pay for past-due medical bills that a patient has accumulated with any health care company. In these cases, if the patient or family meets the criteria of financial distress, the Heartland Hospice Memorial Fund can offer support in living expenses to assist the family in navigating the financial stresses of terminal illness.