KOSMOS - Legacy Connection Initiative for LA Seniors

Community safety

City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit) Central LA East LA South LA West LA San Fernando Valley County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Hospice patients and patients with long term illness in LA face their final days with unfulfilled wishes, lost connections, or a sense that their story is incomplete. Many lack the means, support, or tools to communicate last messages, deliver keepsakes, or reconcile relationships. This leaves families with unresolved grief and patients without dignity in their final moments. As a society, we must do better to honor the humanity of those at the end of life. Addressing this gap fosters emotional safety, family healing, and intergenerational compassion.

KOSMOS’ Final Wishes Project helps hospice and palliative care patients across Los Angeles fulfill meaningful last wishes. Through partnerships with both hospice care teams and palliative care programs in hospitals and community clinics, we identify patients with unfulfilled final wishes—whether it’s delivering a last message, providing a symbolic gift, reconnecting with family, or arranging a meaningful experience. Many palliative care patients, not yet in hospice, face advanced illness with unmet emotional and legacy needs. Our team coordinates logistics, secures resources, and ensures compassionate delivery of each wish. We also help capture final messages (written, audio, or video), hiring local film and media students to document stories—building creative economy skills while serving families. This project aligns with LA County healthcare priorities: hospitals are under pressure to deliver “whole person care,” yet often lack this type of psychosocial support. By embedding our services in hospice and palliative care pathways, we create a system-level solution that restores dignity, fosters connection, and helps transform how LA supports its most vulnerable residents.

If successful, our project will establish a scalable model for dignified final wish fulfillment integrated across LA’s hospice and palliative care systems. In year one, we aim to serve 100+ patients and 400+ family members. Beyond the numbers, this work promotes emotional healing, strengthens family bonds, and preserves human dignity. Long-term, we plan to formalize partnerships with major palliative care programs, hospitals, and community-based care networks, ensuring that every seriously ill LA resident—regardless of income or background—has access to final wish services. By advancing this as a civic innovation, not just charity, we aim to embed compassionate end-of-life care into LA’s broader healthcare ecosystem, creating lasting community transformation.