By James Windell
South Haven Mayor Annie Brown presented a proclamation on Monday, November 3, 2025, proclaiming November as National Care at Home Month.
Although November is officially recognized nationwide as National Care at Home Month, by observing the month on a local level helps to highlight the importance of home-based care, including home health, hospice, palliative care, and private duty home care.
Accepting the proclamation from Mayor Brown was Angela LaBarca, a hospice educator and community advocate based in South Haven, who works with Corewell Health Hospice & Palliative Care in Southwest Michigan. In remarks to the City Council, LaBarca, who is widely recognized for her leadership in senior services and end-of-life care advocacy, said that Corewell Health Hospice & Palliative Care (once known as Caring Circle) has been serving generations of families in the South Haven area for 44 years.
“It’s really a privilege to have a hospice in a community of this size,” LaBarca said, “and I just wanted to remind you that we are a not-for-profit hospice and as such we will never turn a person away for an inability to pay.”
The mayor’s proclamation stated in part that “home-based care and support offer a person-centered approach to treatment, including expert medical dare, quality symptom control, assistance with essential daily activities, and comprehensive pain management as a foundation of care.”
LaBarca along with Dr. Lori Dotson and Stephanie Timmer, Board Member of Corewell Health Hospice & Palliative Care, accepted the proclamation.
“The patient and the family is always at the center of our care,” LaBarca pointed out, “and we navigate around them to provide comfort and dignity.”
