Pathway Home of the Finger Lakes is a house where people spend their final days. It can care for up to two residents at a time. The home says it meets their physical, social and spiritual needs in a supportive home setting and aims to protect their dignity. Admission is based solely on need, without regard to age, gender, race or spiritual beliefs.
Finger Lakes readers voted Pathway Home of the Finger Lakes FLX Finest Gold for Home Care / Hospice in 2022. It placed Silver in the same category each year from 2023 to 2026. This is a residence where care is given on site, not an agency that visits people at home.
The idea began in 2009, when a group of individuals met to discuss the need for a comfort care home in Seneca County. The group bought the house at 1529 State Route 414, also called Mound Road, in October 2015. Pathway Home of the Finger Lakes was modeled on other comfort care homes operating in the Finger Lakes. It accepted its first resident on February 28, 2017. By its own count, more than 150 people have called it home since it opened.
The house sits on a large lot with a yard. The east bedroom has a private bathroom and a sofa that pulls out into a bed for family members who wish to stay. A grant from the Emerson Foundation in Auburn paid for renovating the bathrooms in 2021. In 2019, CNY Health reported that residents were usually people with three months or less to live, that the average stay was 10 to 14 days, and that one woman had stayed nearly nine months. That year the directors said donations were suggested on a sliding scale based on income and length of stay, and that no one was turned away for lack of financial resources. The organization says all donations go to regular operating expenses such as maintaining the home and staffing.
Volunteers who provide care in the home work shifts, and the organization provides training. Other volunteer roles include serving on the board, helping at fundraising events and office work. The annual Butterfly Release on June 9, 2026, let go nearly 500 butterflies while the Mynderse Academy choir performed. On May 21, 2026, employees of ESL pulled weeds and spread 63 bags of mulch at the property. The first Pot of Gold Party fundraiser was held March 18, 2023, at the Sons and Daughters of Italy in Geneva.
The next Butterfly Release is June 5, 2027, at the Elks in Seneca Falls. Anyone who wants to volunteer or give can find details at pathwayhome.org.
