Light Up a Life

When you donate to Agrace, you help us provide more than basic care. You help us make our support more personal and meaningful for each  patient, client and family we serve.

Making a tax-deductible gift to  Agrace is a simple way to “Light Up a Life” in 2021. Any amount you give will help us reach our goal!

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If you knew your life would be short, how would you pack in as much living as possible? How would you leave a legacy?

With help from Agrace, Lora Schansberg found a way.

Lora at Agrace with her parents, Mary Kay Vukovich and Dave Schansberg

Diagnosed at 17 as having a rare form of blood cancer, Lora fought her illness with ferocity for the next 12 years. But when treatment options ran out, Lora and her parents, Dave Schansberg and Mary Kay Vukovich,  turned to Agrace Hospice Care for the courage to face a new challenge—living the end of her life with dignity.   

Dave, Lora’s dad, said she found a feeling of “home” at Agrace’s residence in Janesville. “We were amazed that everyone jumped through hoops to make Lora comfortable,” he says.

Pele visits Lora at Agrace

Our staff remember Lora’s giving spirit, and her beautiful singing voice that echoed through the halls. Lora’s family, friends and beloved dog, Pele, were able to visit, and those visits were filled with music and laughter—just as they would have been at home. Her Agrace care team shared in these moments as well, ensuring Lora was comfortable so she could enjoy each day.

Dave remembers: “She felt she was being treated like a person, not a patient.”

Milestones and Memories

Lora surprises her sister, Dana, to celebrate Dana and Amanda’s wedding alongside family and friends

While Lora was in Agrace’s care, celebrations and milestones took on new meaning. For Pele’s 12th birthday, Agrace helped Lora celebrate their special bond. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Lora’s “diagnosis day” and family birthdays ticked by on the calendar. When her sister Dana got married, the Agrace care team helped Lora get ready to be at the wedding.

From her snowy Agrace patio, Lora watches Anthony take a spin in the car she gifted to him

Then there was Anthony’s birthday. When Lora’s nephew turned 16, the donor-funded Agrace Wish Program arranged for Lora’s car to be detailed and its headlight fixed, so she could give it to him. With her bed wheeled out to her Agrace patio, she watched Anthony’s first spin behind the wheel.

Agrace helps all our patients live fully and create their own legacies. Each step of the way, we offer personalized care, honest answers and help coping with all of the feelings that come with a serious or life-limiting illness.