New Art, Grief Resources at Hopewell House

[April 30, 2025]

Submitted by Lesley Sacks, Hopewell House Executive Director

The Hopewell House grounds received a colorful and vibrant upgrade this year. Karen Roberti, a Hopewell volunteer and local artist, created and donated "A Conversation with Mom" to the Hillsdale residential end-of-life care facility. The glass mosaic garden installation consists of seven panels of glass adhered to acrylic and set on metal frames spanning sixteen feet of concrete, centered in the heart of Hopewell’s certified backyard community garden.

Artist Karen Roberti and her piece "A Conversation with Mom" in the garden at Hopewell House.

Karen pays tribute to her mother and a profoundly impactful conversation they shared about dying.  All who visit can take in the beauty of this piece, which she says is her “heart, poured in waves.” It is a testimony to the full spectrum of end-of-life care and processing grief.

As an end-of-life home focused on compassionate and loving care, Hopewell House tends to the whole person. Residents, family members, and loved ones are at the core of its mission, and their needs throughout their stay are important to the volunteers and staff providing care and support. 

Hopewell House offers free, community-based grief support led by professionally trained volunteers and extends these services to the greater Portland community. Throughout the year, they offer grief support groups for people grieving the death of a significant person. These groups meet for six sessions over twelve weeks and provide a safe container to share stories, talk about grief, and build a supportive community.

Hopewell also hosts a community grief ritual once a month. This is a practice of transforming individual grief within a supportive community circle and is open to all forms of grief.  

More information can be found on their website at www.hopewellhousepdx.org/grief-support/