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SLOAN, New York (The Buffalo News) — Seated in the chapel at Sloan Comfort Care Home, 22-year-old Evan Folsom reflected on what working at the end-of-life facility has meant to him.
“The Home did come at the right time for me,” said Folsom, hours after finishing an overnight shift there, and a day before taking the daylong Medical College Admission Test.
Folsom survived a brain tumor as a toddler and spent years recovering. That alone shaped an interest in medicine. But in the last couple of years, he’s confronted more health concerns and struggled to get concrete answers on what’s causing them. He’s had to learn how to push forward even in uncertain moments.
“It’s trying to reconcile this idea of going forward despite the uncertainty and trying to keep your head up high and look forward and not back,” Folsom said.
At that critical juncture, he started volunteering and then working at Sloan Comfort Care Home, which has two beds for guests and provides free round-the-clock care to those in the final months of their lives.
While supporting guests and their families, Folsom has learned about himself, gained perspective and found a potential career path in end-of-life care. Soon, he’ll start a one-year bioethics program at Harvard Medical School.
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