Healing Hearts, Changing Minds (HHCM) has announced the recipients of its "Walking Each Other Home: A Fund to Promote Psychedelic Compassion for End-of-Life Care" initiative. The fund totals $566,260 and aims to support research and innovation in psychedelic-assisted therapies for people facing life-threatening illnesses.
The organization stated that anxiety is a significant issue for patients with serious illnesses, often preventing them from living fully. According to HHCM, existing research suggests that psychedelic therapy can reduce this anxiety and help individuals find meaning at the end of life. However, more studies are needed to determine how best to deliver these therapies.
To address this need, HHCM launched the funding round in July 2025 after consulting with leaders in palliative care, hospice medicine, spiritual care, psychedelic research, and end-of-life advocacy. The initiative received 59 proposals requesting a total of $4.8 million. Proposals were reviewed by six independent experts using a scoring rubric aligned with HHCM’s values of compassion, integrity, and community empowerment.
Seven projects were selected as grantees—an acceptance rate of 12%. These projects represent various approaches to advancing psychedelic-assisted care for terminally ill patients:
1. End of Life Psychedelic Care (EOLPC), Ashland, Oregon – Awarded $75,025 for a pilot program delivering home-based ketamine therapy integrated with spiritual care across three U.S. sites.
2. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota – Received $82,405.70 to conduct the first clinical trial of psilocybin-assisted therapy for brain tumor patients experiencing existential distress.
3. PRATI & Pravan Foundation in Colorado and Puerto Rico – Granted $75,000 to train 20 hospice workers and palliative providers in delivering psychedelic-assisted therapy in Puerto Rico.
4. Red Willow Hospice in Taos, New Mexico – Awarded $100,000 to train staff and provide ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) to terminally ill patients within rural communities.
5. Heal Ukraine Trauma (Cambridge and Kyiv) – Received $46,130 to expand trauma-informed group KAP training for Ukrainian veterans and their families affected by war.
6. University of Washington in Seattle – Granted $100,000 for a pilot project on psilocybin therapy during multi-day retreats aimed at cancer-related anxiety and depression.
7. Institute for Rural Psychedelic Care in Arcata, California – Awarded $87,700 to offer KAP alongside narrative medicine programs for terminally ill rural patients.
"Research has shown that psychedelic therapy can be extremely effective in reducing anxiety and helping people to live fully and meaningfully," said an HHCM representative.
HHCM noted that information about each project is available on its website under Grantees.
