Center for Hospice Care’s lifePACT program promotes inclusive opportunity for managing emotions and palliative care in the community

At Center for Hospice Care, patients with serious advanced illnesses receive different levels of care to help them live as fully and comfortably as possible through a variety of programs. However, the lifePACT program is a unique opportunity open those who aren’t patients at Center for Hospice Care.

Laura Baker, lifePACT coordinator and mental health counselor, encourages community members who are dealing with overwhelming emotions to enroll.

“lifePACT is a series of psychoeducational courses that teach coping skills in the face of overwhelming emotions – such as anxiety and depression,” Baker said. “In the course of a normal life, we all struggle, even suffer, with heavy and difficult emotions. The lifePACT courses teach skills and frameworks to manage these difficulties. Instead of reacting to each difficulty, we teach how to choose responses that most align with the value system of each individual.”

The courses are inclusive, and each class participant can learn in a space around others who are also trying to manage their emotional situation.

“I encourage anyone interested,” Baker said. “to enroll in our first class, the Power of Presence. If any of the information presented is helpful to them, they can continue and  progress through the other three classes that we offer for adults.”

According to Baker, most participants in the lifePACT program are experiencing high levels of anxiety or depression as a result of a change in their lives; the beginning or ending of a difficult medical diagnosis or the new role of caregiver, for example. Whatever life circumstance each person is experiencing that is causing emotional hardship, Center for Hospice Care is available to help.

“There is support available. lifePACT at Center for Hospice Care has worked to reduce barriers to quality mental health education. Our classes are taught by experienced, mental health professionals and are offered at no cost to our entire community,” Baker said.

Center for Hospice Care has additional programs that offer innovative support for patients, such as the Milton Adult Day Services and Kaleidoscope programs. However, the lifePACT program is a little different.

“Initially, our program was designed to offer mental health support to augment the CHC palliative care community,” Baker said. “When someone is involved with any of our services, we don’t just support the individual patient; we support their entire extended family. However, from the introduction of the program, we noticed that the skills taught were having a positive effect on the mental health of everyone who came in contact with the curriculum – patients, family members, volunteers, as well as our own staff,” Baker said. “People are in search of high-quality mental health care, but often the cost, the time necessary, or even the barrier of asking for help, keeps them from accessing it. The lifePACT program is meant to dissolve those barriers.”

The lifePACT program was first introduced in June 2023. While the program is still young, it has shown many bright spots that have generated optimism for the Center for Hospice Care. The vision for the program is to create thriving communities that prioritize the mental health and well-being of the community.

“We aspire to foster a culture of compassion and support that contributes to a world of lasting acceptance, resiliency and genuine connectivity,” Baker said. “What separates lifePACT from some of the other educational offerings at Center for Hospice Care is that we are open to anyone, regardless of their affiliation with us. The mission is to provide psychoeducational courses to our greater community.”

All four adult community class sessions start at noon and are held in person at the Center for Hospice Care, located at 501 Comfort Place in Mishawaka. Here are the starting dates for each session:

Winter Session: February 2, 2026

Spring Session: April 20, 2026

Summer Session: July 6, 2026

Fall Session: September 14, 2026

For more information on the Center for Hospice Care, you can visitcfhcare.org.