In 1976, as the national hospice grassroots movement was gaining recognition, a group of caring professionals and neighbors in the Lower Yakima Valley came together to create one of the first hospices in the United States. Since then, Heartlinks has steadily matured from incorporation as a non-profit in 1978 to Medicare certification in 1983. The agency exists to provide support and care for persons in the last phases of a life-limiting illness, so that they may live as fully and comfortably as possible. This is accomplished through an individualized program of physical, emotional, spiritual and practical care for people and their families in the last phases of a life-limiting illness emphasizing the control of pain and other symptoms and by utilizing an interdisciplinary group approach of physicians, nurses, social workers, therapists, homemakers, hospice aides, volunteers, spiritual counselors, bereavement counselors and others. The program is reflective of a spirit and idea of caring that emphasizes comfort and dignity for the dying, making it possible for the patient to remains as independent as possible and to remain in their familiar surroundings. The agency exists in the belief that, through appropriate care and the promotion of a caring community, patients and family/caregivers will be free to attain a degree of mental preparation for death that is satisfying to them. Today, the community spirit of the founders still drives Heartlinks — “Neighbor Serving Neighbor.” Care comes from the heart. Patients and families come first. It is our great privilege to provide end-of-life services to all individuals living in both Benton County and Yakima Counties.