A place where no one has to face the end of life alone.
Creating a peaceful home where every person can experience the final chapter with dignity, comfort, and compassion.
Why Graceful Days?
A vision born from love, loss, and a desire to make a difference.
“While caring for my mother at the end of her life, I saw firsthand how meaningful compassionate support can be — not only for the person receiving care, but for the family beside them. That experience inspired a vision for a place where others could receive the same comfort, dignity, and connection at the end of life.”
— Niki Glynos-Wolford, Founder
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In 2010, a deeply personal and transformative experience became the spark that ignited Graceful Days. During an overwhelming time of caring for her terminally ill mother, while also raising a newborn, Niki found herself in the delicate and exhausting role of being the sole caregiver to both her mother and infant son.
When her mother fell ill, the emotional and physical demands quickly became immense. But everything changed when hospice care entered their lives — not only easing her mother’s suffering but also offering Niki the chance to be a daughter again, not just a caregiver. The compassionate hospice team provided more than just medical care — they brought emotional support, education, and an opportunity to move to Kansas City Hospice House, which felt like a home away from home.
This sacred experience revealed something powerful: that death and loss don’t have to be defined by trauma — they can be approached with dignity, grace, and human connection.
Niki recalls, “It became clear to me that no one should ever face this journey alone. Every family deserves the kind of support I was given — and that’s why Graceful Days exists.”
Fueled by this calling, she dedicated herself to building a place where other families can receive the same level of care and compassion she once did. Graceful Days was born with the ultimate goal of creating an end-of-life home.
Today, the organization stands as a living legacy to that experience — a mission-driven group committed to ensuring people receive the peace, dignity, and love they deserve in their final days.
Our Vision
A peaceful home where the end of life can be met with dignity, comfort, and connection.
Graceful Days is working to create a welcoming home where individuals at the end of life can receive compassionate, non-medical care in a peaceful, home-like environment. We envision a place where each person and family is surrounded by comfort, companionship, dignity, and support.
A Different Kind of End-of-Life Home
A place between home and hospice care
Graceful Days is being created to provide a peaceful, home-like setting for people at the end of life who may no longer be able to remain safely at home, but who do not need or want to spend their final days in an institutional setting.
Our home will provide 24/7 non-medical caregiving, companionship, comfort, and a welcoming place to be surrounded by the people and things that matter most. Clinical hospice teams will continue to provide medical care, while Graceful Days focuses on the daily comfort and support that make a place feel like home.
Inspired By A Growing National Movement
A national model of compassionate end-of-life care is coming to Montana.
Graceful Days is part of the Omega Home Network, a national organization supporting the development of community homes for people at the end of life.
Across the country, more than one hundred Omega Homes are open or in development, each shaped by the needs and character of its local community. These homes share a common philosophy: providing compassionate, non-medical care in a home-like setting while working alongside hospice to support every person and their family.
Now, we are working to bring this model to Montana.
The Graceful Days Team
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Niki Glynos-Wolford
Founder & President
Niki has served the Flathead Valley and surrounding areas with over 16 years of dedicated experience in end-of-life care.
As an INELDA Certified End of Life Doula, and educator, she is committed to providing compassionate support to individuals and families during life’s most vulnerable moments.
Niki’s extensive background includes working as a hospice death doula, volunteer, grief and bereavement support, and certified yoga teacher, all of which contribute to her holistic approach to end-of-life care. Her heartfelt presence and intuitive guidance aim to foster peace, dignity, and understanding throughout the transition process.
As the founder of Graceful Days, Niki is passionate about creating a nurturing environment where every person is treated with respect, kindness, and compassion during their final journey.
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Billy Millington
Board Treasurer
Billy founded The Millington Group in 2017 in order to provide resources for entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to grow their business.
In 1997, Billy founded his first business Tribrothers, Inc. with two partners with a dream of owning their own business. Quickly they realized that being a business owner was much more challenging that they had realized. Generating a continuous income stream was tough. Operating the business included selling, buying, marketing, packaging, shipping, etc. There were so many components.
In 2009, Billy took on a new challenge and began working for a local business as an Accounting Manager. Quickly, he was recognized for his performance and became the Controller and soon thereafter the General Manager as well.
During this time, Billy focused on streamlining processes and creating new pricing models based on those processes. He thoroughly reviewed each task and assigned costs to identify the true value to obtain a profitable outcome. Focusing on process and consistency allowed him to identify the successes and failures to capitalize on opportunities that may have been overlooked or correct any areas that needed to be adjusted.
Driven by his passion for helping others achieve their dreams, Billy strives to support individuals in reaching their goals. His dedication to simplifying complex processes and empowering entrepreneurs encapsulates the core values of The Millington Group.
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Mary McGrath
Board Secretary
Mary's journey into Sound Healing began after a long career as a music teacher and choir director in public schools. After 20 years of teaching, she returned to school and earned her credential at Globe Sound Healing in Sausalito, where she studied with renowned instructors such as Randy Masters and David Gibson. She also completed the Tama Do Sound Healing Technique program with Fabian Maman. It was during this time that she developed a deep passion for Qi Gong, a practice she was introduced to as part of her Sound Healing education.
Mary is also certified in Katy Bowman's Restorative Exercise Program. Over the past nearly two decades, she has explored a wide range of Sound Healing modalities, including vibroacoustic massage tables, tuning forks, crystal bowls, voice, and rhythm instruments.
She offers her Sound Healing sessions in her yurt in Columbia Falls and also teaches Qi Gong to seniors and individuals of all ages.
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Lori Mitchell, RN
Board Member
Lori is a seasoned registered nurse with 41 years of clinical experience, including two decades dedicated to end-of-life care.
Her lifelong commitment to whole-person healing has led to advanced certifications in clinical aromatherapy, reiki, therapeutic touch, polarity therapy, and Daoist Stone Medicine.
Lori brings a compassionate, integrative lens to healthcare, advocating for comfort, dignity, and spiritual support during the last stages of life.
She is deeply passionate about advancing holistic care models and serves as a voice for person centered innovation.
Outside her professional work, Lori finds inspiration in nature, kayaking, whale watching, cycling, martial arts, and crafting fiber arts and aromatherapy products.
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Cindy Hindsley
Board Member
Cindy has dedicated over 40 years to providing end-of-life care for individuals and their families. Early in her career as a Clinical Nurse Specialist, one of her first roles involved caring for individuals and their communities during the initial outbreak of AIDS in the United States.
After experiencing the loss of her own spouse, Cindy made a heartfelt commitment to ensure that people have the opportunity to say goodbye and receive as much support as possible during their final moments. This passion led her to establish the first certified hospice in the Flathead Valley, where she worked alongside an exceptional team of staff members.
Cindy believes that dying is a sacred transition—an experience filled with strength, wonder, and courage—and offers profound wisdom to all who participate in that journey.
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Leigh Schickendantz
Board Member
Leigh brings over three decades of dedicated service to human possibility, transformation, and healing in the realms of trauma, end-of-life, bereavement, and loss.
She designs, authors, and implements progressive and integrative programs, workshops, and retreats for individuals sincerely interested in personal transformative work. Her primary modalities include somatics, embodiment, and the art of learning newness through deep and joyful practices grounded in sound clinical experience and contemplative wisdom lineages.
Within the community, her current mentorship and leadership roles include Co-Dojo Cho (managers) and Sensei of Two Rivers Aikido, Co-Visionary and practitioner of Two Rivers, Co-Founder and Visionary of Braided Way Peace Collective, and ambassador for the Love Serve Remember Foundation.
Leigh holds an LCPC, is a death doula, grief tender, and seasoned trauma therapist. Her primary embodiment practices are Aikido and Qi Gong, alongside her love of chant and wandering freely in the wild terrains of our local mountain vistas and waterways.