ABOUT US

Vaishnavas C.A.R.E.

Vaishnavas CARE Goal: To offer support, comfort, guidance and educational instruction for patients, family members, caregivers, and those who wish to learn the art of hospice caregiving.

Vaishnavas CARE Mission: Vaishnavas C.A.R.E. (Counseling, Assistance, Resource, and Education for the Terminally ill and those in Need) is an educational program and support system for patients and loved ones facing acute illness, longterm, chronic illnesses and end-of-life situations.

Vaishnavas CARE Vision: anta-kale ca mam eva, smaranmuktva kalevaram / yah prayati sa mad bhavam, yati nasty atra samsayah- "And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body remembering Me alone at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.“ (BG 8.5)

a little more about us...

What We Do

We seek to educate those within our ISKCON communities in "The Art of Caring for Vaishnavas".

Our goal is to assist devotees in starting local Vaishnavas CARE Teams in order to systematically care for sick and dying members within their temples and congregations with emotional, spiritual, practical, and end-of-life needs.

We specialize in improving the quality of life for terminally ill patients and family members within the Vaishnava faith through our seminars, continued workshops, educational website, online Hospice Course and book, "The Final Journey -- Complete Hospice Care for Departing Vaishnavas" (Torchlight Publishing--Updated, 2nd Edition).

For a comprehensive list of services we provide, click here.

Our efforts are completely driven by the volunteers who serve devotees during their times of need.

Our Inspiration

Our Vaishnavas CARE project is inspired by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and the example he made of caring not only for his disciples, but the entire world.

Millions around the globe express their gratitude to Srila Prabhupada for revealing the timeless wisdom of bhakti to the world. In 1965, at the age of sixty-nine, Srila Prabhupada boarded a cargo ship from India to New York. The journey proved to be treacherous and he suffered two heart attacks aboard. After 35 days at sea, he first arrived at a lonely Brooklyn pier with just seven dollars in Indian rupees and a crate of his translations of sacred Sanskrit texts.

After significant hardship, in July of 1966, Bhaktivedanta Swami established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) for the purpose he stated of “checking the imbalance of values in the world and working for real unity and peace”.

In the eleven years that followed, Srila Prabhupada circled the globe 14 times on lecture tours spreading the teachings of Lord Krishna. Men and women from all backgrounds and walks of life came forward to accept his message. With their help, Srila Prabhupada established temples, farm communities, a publishing house, and educational institutions around the world.

Srila Prabhupada’s most significant contributions, perhaps, are his books. He authored over 70 volumes on the Krishna tradition, which are highly respected by scholars for their authority, depth, fidelity to the tradition, and clarity.

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada passed away on November 14, 1977, in the holy town of Vrindavana, surrounded by his loving disciples who carry on his mission today.

Our History

In the spring of 2000, Sangita Devi Dasi (Susan Pattinson, RN, CHPN) and the late Jusaniya Devi Dasi (Judy Harris, RN, BSN), both disciples of Srila Prabhupada, co-founded Vaishnavas C.A.R.E. (Counseling, Assistance, Resource, and Education) for the terminally ill and those in need.

Because the concepts of hospice and palliative care were unfamiliar within ISKCON at that time, the goal was to introduce Vaishnavas CARE to help teach basic care for the terminally ill.

In the same year, Vaishnavas CARE’s vision was presented to ISKCON’s GBC leaders in India, with the goal to introduce hospice care in every temple and community in ISKCON. The feeling was that devotees deserved the best end-of-life care.

Meanwhile, Sangita Mataji worked with His Holiness Giriraj Swami for over a decade to design, build and establish the Bhaktivedanta Hospice in Vrindavan, India so devotees from around the globe could easily come to the Holy Land to pass away when diagnosed with a terminal disease. After much work and with the help of His Holiness Radhanath Swami and many of his disciples who are licensed physicians at the Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai, our Bhaktivedanta Hospice, a 40,000 square foot hospice facility, opened its doors in 2010. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the facility has been expanded to add new services.

In addition, several years ago, Sangita Mataji spent time at the Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai, India encouraging the start of their Hospice and Palliative Care Department which has since expanded with two enthusiastic and caring Physicians, Registered Nurses, other staff members, and over 50 volunteers to serve their local population who are facing the end of life.