VNS Services and Programs: Abbie Hunt Bryce Home

The Abbie Hunt Bryce Home

In July 2004 the Abbie Hunt Bryce Home welcomed our first resident and began our mission to provide a loving home for people who are terminally ill and without financial resources.

VNS began this project in 2000 after hospice nurses were sent to provide care to people living under bridges and in abandoned cars.

Through a needs assessment we learned that on any single night it is estimated that 3,500 people call the streets of Marion County home.  During the course of a year, 15,000 people are homeless in Indianapolis. Many of these individuals have suffered great hardships, pain and abuse.  If any of these people become ill—or terminally ill—odds are that they will die on the streets of Indianapolis or in a hospital (if they are lucky).  Many are isolated, without adequate support systems, destitute, and alone in their final hours.

VNS, along with a group of concerned Indianapolis community volunteers, recognized the need to create a home that addresses the needs of the dying poor. The Abbie Hunt Bryce Home was built to allow it’s residents to live the last chapter of their lives in dignity.

The Abbie Hunt Bryce Home is not a nursing home, hospice, or medical facility.  Rather, it is truly a home - a unique place with a unique mission and volunteers available 24-hours a day.

The home serves persons who are terminally ill, without cost to them or regard to gender, race religion or national origin.  The home ministers to individuals who need an available caregiver, who have limited or no financial resources, and are in need of special home care in the final stages of life. A combination of trained caregivers and volunteers provides spiritual, emotional and physical support with the assistance of Hospice providers.

“It’s a place the residents can call home,” says Margo Martin, Residence Administrator for The Abbie Hunt Bryce Home. “80% of the population prefers to live out their final days at home. But if you are homeless or destitute—where do you go? The Abbie Hunt Bryce Home is that place.”

The home was created by VNS out of a sense of commitment to the Indianapolis community as well as our determination to fulfill our mission of “…delivering quality, community based and health-related services that promote independence, wellness and family integrity”.  In 1913 VNS was created out of an identified community need and through the courage and commitment of our founder, Abbie Hunt Bryce and her colleagues.

The Abbie Hunt Bryce Home offers its residents:

• Accommodations for twelve residents in private rooms with semi-private baths, kitchen facilities, living rooms, activity rooms and family room space
• A trained staff and volunteers providing emotional, physical, and spiritual support to each resident around the clock
• Medical assistance from community Hospice teams
• Funding support from VNS and an endowment built by the generosity of individuals, foundations and corporations
• Full collaboration with other providers of homeless services in the community to avoid duplications and promote cooperation for the care of the dying poor
• Leadership by a committed group of community volunteers dedicated to providing the means necessary to carry out our mission

Staff employed at the Abbie Hunt Bryce Home include the administrator, the home manager, and several home assistants.

Volunteers play an integral role in the day-to-day operation of the home. At least 35 volunteers per week are working at the home with a total volunteer force of 60. The needs of the residents are met in many ways including:

• Answering the telephone
• Visitor reception
• Ongoing community communications (thank you notes, mailings)
• Landscaping & garden maintenance
• Transportation
• Meal Preparation
• Laundry
• Resident room care
• Common area care
• Holiday decoration
• Activities with Residents
• Spiritual listening

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