Hero’s Path Palliative Care

Hero’s Path Palliative Care exists to empower children with serious illness to live fully by providing outstanding, customized palliative care. We do this by providing compassionate, thoughtful, family-centered, home-based pediatric palliative care and offering resources, including respite, education, and networking to support children and families on their path to wellness. We currently offer outdoor nature education programs for the entire family, short-break (date) respite, and virtual family or individual emotional well-being support. Our program is supported by highly trained nurses with Thrive Skilled Pediatric Care to provide medical support. While there are over 80,000 children with special needs in New Mexico, there are zero respite services that provide nursing-level support in the state. In 2023, we served 20 families and aim to triple that impact in 2024. This support includes families who received weekly services to support stress reduction and healthy coping with their child’s medical trauma, support in navigating anticipatory grief as they understand the imminent death of a child, and hosted respite care opportunities. We believe that outdoor nature spaces provide an environment that augments their healing. Our team is comprised solely of volunteers as we stand up our impactful organization to provide ongoing support for this underserved community. While we provide these unique services in our area, we also partner with external organizations to serve these families through collaboration. We are planning, designing, and building a fully accessible sensory trail on the east side of Albuquerque (through the Trails + grant). This larger project is being completed in conjunction with the City of Albuquerque, Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District, Nature Matters Academy, and other partners. Broadening our community partnerships through collaboration allows us to be a voice and advocate for the community we are serving. As we work together, barriers are broken down, and awareness blossoms while fostering inclusion in our community.