While working as an in-home hospice registered nurse in 2009 and 2010, Holly Klein noticed that, sometimes, visits from hospice team members were the only contact people on hospice would have. Some had no one else to help with eating, using the bathroom and other daily needs, and it could be several days between visits from team members. They were left to fend for themselves in a fragile state — especially in their last hours.
“We found people passed away days before we were coming to see them, so they died alone,” says Klein, executive director and co-founder of the Grace House Akron nonprofit. “I always wondered, What was that like for that person? Were they short of breath? Were they scared? Were they in pain? … It was really why I created Grace House.”
Growing up in Hinckley, Klein had a love for helping others. For over seven years, she worked as a nurse in areas such as the burn unit and the emergency room. Then her husband, a palliative care nurse practitioner, recommended she work in hospice. She liked that hospice challenged her to use her full skill set, but through management roles in the 2010s, she discovered disparities — people dying alone or in undignified conditions — were more widespread than she initially realized. She made it her mission to provide barrier-free hospice care to individuals without caregivers through Grace House.
Klein co-founded Grace House with Cindy and Nick Browning in 2016, earned her master’s degree in nonprofit management from Northeastern University in 2018 and opened the six-bed comfort care home in fall 2022. Its first patient, Duane, was previously living in an ice cream truck. Since then, Grace House has served 108 residents. About 50 percent of its residents have been homeless. Grace House is one of three facilities of its kind in the country to offer no-barrier entry for homeless people — and its 24/7 care is free.
Other charities often refer residents to Grace House, saving them from horrifying conditions. One Wayne County man, David, had been living alone in a warehouse for two decades. Staying at Grace House, he said it was the first time he slept in a bed and took a shower in 20 years.
Several residents have mental health and addiction issues, so Grace House connects them with services needed. A person with schizophrenia, Polly moved into Grace House untreated. Agencies got involved, and she got a guardian who pursued treatment. Polly started to interact with other residents, create floral arrangements and go on walks.
“This was a place where she felt a sense of belonging,” says Klein, a now 49-year-old Akron resident. “It was life-changing.”
In 2024, Polly died in a hospital with Grace House volunteers sitting vigil. “She had such a hard life, and her death was so peaceful. She was surrounded by Grace House volunteers,” adds Amanda Novelli, director of development and communications.
Grace House has over 200 volunteers, including vigil volunteers, who are bedside when residents die. They focus on creating a calm environment, providing company and honoring residents’ choices — such as having soft lights, calm music, special foods, their hands held and more. “There’s a lot of dignity in being able to choose how you die,” says Novelli. Klein and staffers get close to residents, mourn their losses and hold memorials to honor them.
Receiving constant care they previously lacked, some residents heal and get off hospice. Grace House is hoping to get a second location or housing for those with complex health conditions in the future. It has a waiting list for beds.
Klein doesn’t fear death. She believes that every person should die with dignity.
“I can’t imagine trying to have to go through it alone without support, unhoused. That’s what’s scary — not actual death,” she says. “Our residents who don’t have that love — it’s super important that they get it from us.”
Mal McCrea
Mal McCrea
