Spotlight On: Harmony House of Western Massachusetts

Our Member Relations Committee was pleased to surprise Harmony House of Western Massachusetts as our February 2026 Member Spotlight Presented by Ted & Barbara Hebert of Teddy Bear Pools & Spas.

In 1999, Ruth Willemain was nearing the end of her 45-year teaching career, but she knew her work wasn’t over. She was called to serve others - and she followed the path toward hospice care. Hospice care focuses on comfort, dignity, and quality of life for people with terminal illnesses, typically when other treatments are no longer effective, to support those in their final months. Willemain trained and volunteered for several years in hospice care before she set on her mission, to serve those who are alone as they face their last days. Willemain visited a hospice home in Cleveland, Ohio, and was moved by the experience: the love and comfort she felt in that environment, a social-model hospice home. She wanted to bring that to Western Massachusetts, and so founded the Harmony House in 2007.

Harmony House, now located at 66 View Street in Chicopee, isn’t a facility, but a home; a social-model hospice home, which means it is operated and funded by the community, and staffed entirely by volunteers. The home is intended for individuals diagnosed with a terminal illness who have a maximum of three months to live and are under the care of a hospice services provider, which will administer those services at Harmony House instead of a nursing home or other facility. Harmony House provides caregivers, in a comfortable, home-like environment, for those who have limited or no resources and are in need of compassionate care in their final stages of life. While there will be care delivered by licensed nursing caregivers, food-service personnel, and administrative assistants, the heart of Harmony House is the around-the-clock volunteer service.

While Willemain passed away in 2022, the Harmony House lives on, currently led by Board President Gina Mazza and new Executive Director Tania Spear. Harmony House relies on donations and local grants, and the help of the community. You can support the meaningful mission of the Harmony House by becoming a volunteer, joining one of their committees, or donating.

Thank you to Ruth, Gina, Tania, and all the volunteers and many hands at the Harmony House, for your compassion and dedication to those most vulnerable in our community.