Abraham House was founded in 1998, when beloved local physician Dr. A.L. Shaheen recognized a gap in existing services for individuals facing terminal illnesses, and donated his 2-bed Utica home to be used to deliver cost-free end of life care. Abraham House has been providing our terminally ill guests and their families a safe and loving home, with all the support needed for dignified end of life care, free of any financial burden ever since. In 2019, we expanded and opened a 6-bed community care facility in the neighboring community of Rome.
Our social model hospice homes are community-supported homes providing 24-hour care for terminally ill individuals and their loved ones, when dying at home becomes unmanageable. Based on that of a family caring for their loved one at home, social model hospices are residences, separate and distinct from the medical hospice services that are provided within the home by a state licensed hospice agency.
Abraham House operates the only homes of this kind within the 3 counties of Oneida, Madison, and Herkimer.
- We provide 24 hour caregiving.
- Our doors are always open.
- Guests and families are encouraged to use our house as if it is their home.
We provide guests with a safe and secure home environment as well as the compassion and comfort of a surrogate family through our round the clock caregivers. We honor their wishes and protect their dignity at all times by focusing on individualized guest centered care.
Our home provides the landscape for families to spend quality time together. We pride ourselves on caring for their loved ones so family members can focus on simply caring about them. Abraham House is not a place where our guests come to die; rather it is a home for them to complete their living.
Most of our guests have wonderful, supportive, loving and present family members. But because we serve guests and families without charge, we're often the only option for those who live alone, lack family support, are homeless, or lack the resources to pay for skilled nursing or private care facilities.
Death, something we will all face someday, is a topic that is difficult to talk about and an experience that is unpleasant. Our mission is to shape a healthier death experience with a focus on home and family, by providing the social and emotional support that guests, families, and friends need to reach acceptance and savor the remaining time they have to spend together.
Terminal illness does not discriminate against race, ethnicity, age, religion, gender, or socio economic status and neither do we. Our admissions are based purely on level of need, and we open our homes and our arms to anyone with a terminal diagnosis and a prognosis of 3 months or less.
