Help Cover Jennifer’s Final Hospice Care & End-of-Life Costs

Help Us Provide End-of-life Care for Jennifer Baker

Over many months, your generosity has given Jennifer the gift of safety, comfort, and dignity as she has navigated advanced dementia. Every contribution—whether through donations, shares, or words of encouragement—has helped us meet her needs and keep her surrounded by love. We are deeply grateful.

In recent weeks, Jennifer’s health has declined more rapidly. She has been increasingly confused, has limited interest in doing things, is losing weight rapidly, is now bedridden, and has little to no interest in eating. Though she is still lucid and, at times, even spirited—joking and laughing—even these moments are becoming fewer. Her care team believes she likely has only weeks left to live. After several emergency room visits and a recent emergency-turned-inpatient hospital stay, she was discharged last Friday directly into end-of-life hospice care. Our focus now is on keeping her safe, comfortable, and in the place she knows, with the caregivers she trusts most, so that she can die with dignity.

As many of you know, when Jennifer could no longer safely live on her own, we bought a home with an in-law apartment so we could care for her as long as possible. When her needs quickly became greater than we could meet at home, she moved into an assisted living facility with a skilled and compassionate care team. We welcomed her other son, Maxx, to live in the apartment—keeping family close, keeping the home in use for those she loved (which we know she would have wanted), and honoring her generous spirit. We keep rent far below market so it remains affordable for him, and while that means our own budget stays tight, it feels right for our family.

Though becoming a two-income household has helped us cover Jennifer’s existing $5,000/month assisted living care costs and absorb many of her additional expenses so far, we have not yet recovered financially from investing everything we had into purchasing our home for her original care needs. Unfortunately, we do not have the extra funds on hand to cover the significant new costs that come with this final stage of her care.

We are hoping to raise an additional $10,000 (reflected in the increased GoFundMe goal) to offset:

One month of increased care at assisted living — a jump of $4,800/month (from $5,000 to $9,800). This increase reflects the additional and more frequent tasks the assisted living staff must provide now that Jennifer is on hospice care. Based on her current trajectory, we expect to pay up to one more month at this higher rate.

Unforeseen medical bills — currently $3,600 for past ER stays, plus an expected large bill from her most recent hospitalization.

Ferry fees — $25–$36 per round trip, depending on passengers, so we can visit her as often as possible.

Her eventual cremation — her wish, estimated at $1,000–$3,000.

We have considered other options—bringing her home or moving her to a respite house—but both would involve either significant costs for in-home support or removing her from the care team and environment she knows, as well as emotional disruption for our family during this time that is already filled with grief. We believe that part of dying with dignity is allowing her to age, and die, in place.

You have already done so much to help us, and we are humbly asking for one final round of support as we navigate Jennifer’s true end-of-life care. Every dollar will go directly toward these final expenses, allowing us to focus on being with her in her last days.

Finally, if you have a memory, message, or note you’d like us to share with Jennifer, we would love to collect them and read them to her on our visits. Please send a message to our GoFundMe page (scroll down to Organizers and click ‘Contact’) with the subject line “A NOTE FOR JENNIFER”.

From our hearts, thank you for walking alongside us through this journey. Your support means more than we can say.

With love and gratitude,

Cameron & Allison & Dalton

Jennifer’s son and daughter-in-law and grandson