Tamarisk’s mission is to create a caring presence and a safe haven for the thoughts, feelings, and concerns of persons, and their families, faced with the end stages of terminal illness. We attend to our companions’ non-medical needs, while simultaneously providing much-needed respite to caregivers. Our volunteers offer an agenda-less presence to the ill and dying namely, friendship. To caregivers, our volunteers make possible reliable and regularly-scheduled time for rest and renewal so that they may better face the unrelenting demands of the health crises dominating their lives. Despite all the background coordination required to enrich our community with this peerless service, Tamarisk does not charge for its volunteers’ time, instead relying solely upon individual, civic, and corporate donations, memorials, grants, and fundraising events to fund its operation. Since 1993, we have trained volunteers to provide companionship and caregiver respite to those coping with life-threatening illness (such as Alzheimer's, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's, cancer) including but not limited to those receiving palliative care and hospice.