(Press-News.org) Derry, NH, January 27, 2026 — Healing Hearts, Changing Minds (HHCM) today announced the seven awardees of Walking Each Other Home: A Fund to Promote Psychedelic Compassion for End-of-Life Care, a $566,260 philanthropic initiative supporting innovation, compassion, and dignity for people at life’s end.
Anxiety when facing serious, life-threatening illnesses is a significant issue for society. In fact, it is often so painful that it prevents patients from living fully. Research has shown that psychedelic therapy can be extremely effective in reducing anxiety and helping people to live fully and meaningfully. HHCM recognized that more research is needed to identify the best ways to deliver the therapy to people in need.
Following an extensive listening tour with over two dozen leaders across palliative care, hospice medicine, spiritual care, psychedelic research, and end-of-life advocacy, HHCM launched this funding round in July 2025 to catalyze bold, field-defining work. The response was extraordinary: 59 proposals requesting a total of $4.8 million.
The proposals were reviewed by six independent subject matter expert reviewers in psychedelic end-of-life care. using a scoring rubric that assesses the criteria in the RFP and aligns HHCM’s values of compassion, integrity, and community empowerment. HHCM selected seven outstanding grantees whose work exemplifies the fund’s mission and values. This represents an acceptance rate of 12% in a competitive group of submissions, underscoring both the strength of the submissions and the growing capacity in the field of psychedelic end-of-life care.
2026 ‘Walking Each Other Home’ Grantees
The following seven projects received grants. More information about each of them is available on our webpage Grantees.
1. End of Life Psychedelic Care (EOLPC), Ashland, Oregon — $75,025
Collaboration between EOLPC, Institute for Rural Psychedelic Care (IRPC) in Arcata, California, and Ligare in Savannah, Georgia. The pilot program will deliver home-based ketamine therapy integrated with spiritual care for hospice and palliative patients across three sites in the US. The team includes Christine Caldwell; Michael Fratkin, MD; Hunt Priest; Gayle Bereskin, DO; Catherine Durkin Robinson; Sherika Newman, DO; Aubrey Gates; and Diana Noyes.
2. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota — $82,405.70
Brain cancer has one of the highest mortality rates of all cancers, causing many patients who face the diagnosis deep distress. Using an integrative oncology approach, the Mayo Clinic will run the first-ever clinical trial of psilocybin-assisted therapy for patients with brain tumors and existential distress. The research team includes Stacy D’Andre, MD; Ken Olivier, MD; Maria Lapid, MD; Andrea Randall. PharmD; and Ugur Sener, MD.
3. PRATI & Pravan Foundation, Colorado and Puerto Rico — $75,000
Through this grant, 20 hospice workers, palliative care providers, and doulas will be trained to deliver psychedelic-assisted therapy for existential distress in Puerto Rico, which has independent authority to reschedule psychedelic medicines., The teaching team includes Christine Pateros, MA, RN; Wilhelmina De Castro, LCSW; Mary Cosimano LMSW; Darren Fisher RN, BSN; Charlotte Charfen, MD; Carmen Amezcua MD; and German Ascani, MD.
4. Red Willow Hospice, Taos, New Mexico — $100,000
This grant to a leading hospice provider in New Mexico will train hospice staff and provide ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) to terminally ill patients. Red Willow Hospice serves historically underserved rural populations integrating care for the mind, body, and spirit in their holistic care model. The research team includes Robyn Chavez, RN, BSN, CHCM; Justin Babin; Joanna Hooper, MD; Lynn Nauman; Felicia Cardenas; Jennifer Johnson; Melissa Martinez; Katrina Lucero; Lisa Stolarzyc, MD; Rev. Dr, Ted Wiard; Emma Okamoto; and Lisa Cheek.
5. Heal Ukraine Trauma, Cambridge, Massachusetts and Kyiv, Ukraine — $46,130
This project will expand trauma-informed group KAP training and services for veterans and their families affected by the devastating physical and emotional effects of war in Ukraine. The research team includes Amy Goodrich; Oksana Gryschenko, PhD; and Iryna Holub.
6. University of Washington, Seattle, Washington — $100,000
This grant will fund a pilot that uses psilocybin therapy for cancer-related anxiety and depression in a group setting during a multi-day retreat. Findings from the project will offer insights into how a group setting might make psilocybin therapy more accessible to terminally ill patients. The research team includes Anthony Back, MD, and Bonnie McGregor, Ph.D.
7. Institute for Rural Psychedelic Care, Arcata, California — $87,700
This project will provide KAP and narrative medicine programs to terminally ill patients in rural communities. Patients treated with KAP will engage in interviews with a documentary filmmaker and photographer, answering open-ended questions aimed at helping them make meaning of their lives and end-of-life, and creating a legacy that helps ease death anxiety. The research team includes Michael Fratkin, MD; Carrie Griffin, MD; and Justin Maxon.
“At Healing Hearts, Changing Minds, we aim to support research and therapies that help people live fully and meaningfully, even as they face serious, life-threatening illness. Psychedelic assisted therapy has enormous and largely untapped potential to improve the care and support we provide to them,” said the organization's founder Robert Ansin. ”Taken together, these seven projects reflect the heart of HHCM’s trust-based philanthropic model: listening closely to community needs, supporting locally rooted organizations, and strengthening the ecosystem of psychedelic-assisted care. Together, they exemplify our Ripple Model of Good Effects—advancing healing at the individual, community, and systemic levels—while upholding HHCM’s commitment to employing gold-standard methodologies.”
About Healing Hearts, Changing Minds
HHCM is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation dedicated to expanding access to compassionate, culturally responsive psychedelic-assisted therapy. Through trust-based philanthropy, HHCM partners with frontline organizations that support healing, dignity, and empowerment across diverse communities.
END
Healing Hearts, Changing Minds awards $566,260 to seven projects to advance psychedelic-assisted end-of-life care
2026-01-27
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