A loving home for terminally ill individuals with limited financial resources and no caregiver
Malachi House, created out of a Christian sense of ministry, serves persons who are terminally ill without cost or regard to gender, race, religion or national origin. Our home ministers to individuals who need an available caregiver and have limited or no financial resources and are in need of special home care in the final stages of life. A trained staff and volunteers provide spiritual, emotional and physical support with the assistance of a hospice team.
Keywords: Malachi, terminally ill, end of life care, hospice, home, free care, personal care, Copper River Salmon Run, Krusty's, Ohio City
Interview Q&A
How long have you been in business?
Malachi House has cared for terminally ill individuals for 25 years.
What is your primary product or service?
Malachi House provides a home-like setting to fulfill the basic needs of food, shelter, clothing, and loving care to terminally ill persons who have no financial means or caregiving support at the end of life. All care is offered free of charge. Individuals who become residents must be under hospice care. A trained staff and volunteers provide holistic care to help ease our residents’ physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual discomfort.
How did you first become interested in your line of business? (if owner) - What is your background? (If owner or store manager)
Malachi House was created in 1988 to care for a target population that was not being attended to at the time: the homeless who were in the last stage of life and were dying alone and abandoned.
The solution began with Father Paul Hritz, the pastor of St. Malachi Church in the historic Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland, whose vision and compassion for social justice helped so many people in this neighborhood and beyond. Father Paul found neighborhood people dying alone and spending the last days of their lives in makeshift shelters under bridges or in abandoned cars. He and others envisioned the creation of a home-like setting where compassionate people would provide care and attention to those who would otherwise spend their final days of their lives alone and in poverty. During this same timeframe, HIV/AIDS became a national health crisis and Malachi House was one of the first in the area to care for people struggling with this disease by using universal precautions.
How do you differentiate yourself from other businesses in your category and area?
To our knowledge, Malachi House is the first homelike “facility” for the terminally ill who are alone, in the country and we were founded right here in Cleveland. We are the oldest, and in many cases, the prototype for similar homes across the United States.
Some of our innovative ideas for our home stemmed from a visit to St. Christopher’s Hospice in London, which is identified as the start of the modern hospice model. One of our co-founders traveled to tour the facility and spoke with Dame Cicely Saunders, who founded St. Christopher’s and is credited with revolutionizing the way in which society cares for the ill, the dying and the bereaved. While St. Christopher’s Hospice is a skilled nursing facility and Malachi House is not, the information attained was essential for us to develop our holistic approach of caring for a resident's physical, spiritual, emotional, and psychological wellbeing.
Malachi House, encouraged by St. Christopher’s, started a different model: not a hospice, but a private home that partners with local area hospices, and is staffed by caregivers and trained volunteers. A simple home in which our residents receive the precise, individualized, compassionate care that they require and deserve completely free of charge: the kind of care that a family member would provide to them.
How many locations do you have and do you have plans to expand?
Currently one location: 2810 Clinton Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44113 (216) 621-8831
Provide detailed directions to your location
Malachi House is located on the north side of Clinton Avenue, just west of W. 28th Street.
From downtown Cleveland (Public Square):
Take Superior Avenue west towards Ohio City; cross over Veteran's Memorial Bridge; cross over W. 25th Street onto Detroit; turn left onto W. 28th Street; and right onto Clinton Avenue.
From I-77:
Exit at E. 9th Street; turn right onto Orange Avenue; turn left onto Carnegie; cross over w. 25th Street; Carnegie becomes Lorain turn right onto Fulton; Fulton becomes W. 28th Street; turn left onto Clinton.
From I-90 westbound:
Exit at E. 41st Street; turn right onto E. 41st; turn right onto Bridge; turn left onto Fulton, which becomes W. 28th Street; turn left onto Clinton.
From I-90 eastbound:
Exit at E, 41st/44th Street; turn left onto E. 41st Street; right onto Bridge; turn left onto Fulton, which becomes W. 28th Street; turn left onto Clinton.
What type of payments do you accept?
Care is offered completely free of charge to residents. Malachi House is solely funded by private sources and does not receive any type of government funds, Medicaid reimbursement or insurance fees. We rely on the generosity of individuals, foundations and corporations. Both cash and in-kind donations are welcomed.
Which areas do you service?
Residents traditionally come from the Greater Cleveland-Akron area; however, we are not generally bound by geographic restrictions.
Who owns your company or runs daily operations?
Malachi House is a 501(c)(3) corporation and is governed by members of a Board of Trustees, who shall for purposes of Section 1702 of the Ohio Revised Code, be deemed to be the members of the corporation in accordance with the provisions of Section 1702.14 of the Ohio Revised Code.
Daily operations are overseen by a hired Executive Director, accountable to the Board of Trustees.
What are your hours of operation?
Malachi House operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Resident visiting hours are 7 days a week between the hours of 10:00 am and 8:00 pm.
What is the best compliment anyone can give you?
A resident who tells us that Malachi House feels "just like home."
What is your favorite quote or Bible verse?
Father Paul, Co-Founder of Malachi House, once said "The goodness of society can be measured by how it takes care of its weakest members."
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