Homeless at the End

The homeless hospice in Salt Lake City, The INN Between, began from the vision of Deborah Thorpe, a palliative care nurse practitioner who, while working with homeless patients facing late-stage illness, recognized a critical gap: hospice care could not be delivered in shelters or on the streets, leaving many to die without proper support. Motivated by this need, Debbie formed a committee and spent the next five years exploring the concept of a hospice for the homeless—a place that could offer compassion, dignity, safety, and crucial end-of-life medical services for people experiencing homelessness. Kimberlin Correa became involved with Debbie’s group in 2013, taking a leadership role in launching their first program—a referral service that found nursing home beds for terminally ill homeless hospital patients. In January 2015, Kimberlin became the organization’s first Executive Director and promptly faced extensive challenges, including legal, zoning, and licensing issues, and a pervasive “not in my backyard” community sentiment. Having successfully navigated the issues, Kimberlin opened The INN Between on August 17, 2015, as a 16-bed pilot program housed in the former Guadalupe School and Roman Catholic Convent building on Goshen Street in Salt Lake City. Shortly thereafter, Matilda Webb joined the organization, rising to the position of Program Manager and ultimately Program Director. The hospice functions as a medical respite and end-of-life care center, filling the vital role for individuals lacking housing and access to hospice care. Since its founding, The INN Between has become the only facility of its kind in Utah, providing much-needed shelter, healthcare access, and emotional and spiritual support to terminally ill people experiencing homelessness, thereby preventing unnecessary suffering and deaths on the streets. Demand for the hospice quickly outgrew the original 16-bed facility, leading to expansion efforts. In 2017, Kimberlin found a potential site—a large nursing home. She raised $3.5 million to purchase the facility. In June 2018, The INN Between relocated to its permanent home, offering 25 medical respite beds and 25 Assisted Living Facility Type II beds. After leading the organization through a period of rapid growth and the worst of the COVID pandemic, Kimberlin retired in June 2021, leaving behind an enduring legacy of compassion, kindness, and dignity.