Become a Hospice Volunteer
Becoming a hospice volunteer gives you the opportunity to participate in the re-affirmation of life and its experiences for persons in the final phases of incurable illness so that they might live as comfortably as possible. The potential satisfaction that a volunteer can receive is very personal. Volunteers may even find that showing kindness and compassion for others is therapeutic for themselves.
What better way than to give back to your local community than becoming a volunteer. You can earn educational credit through High School Volunteer opportunities and College Student Volunteer opportunities. Our General Volunteers are 18+
Due to the nature of our services and legal restrictions; the following is a list of actions that our volunteers do not perform.
• Physically handle, move or lift a patient
• Administer drugs, set up a pill box, or pick up/deliver medicines to the patient or family
• Transport patients
• Feed patients
• Accept gifts from patients or their families
Direct Patient Volunteers do things directly with the patient and caregiver. This may include reading to the patient, writing down memories, painting fingernails, and other activities. Volunteers can display their talents by singing to patients or playing instruments for them. Listening and giving reassurances to families is one of the most rewarding aspects of volunteering. Depending on their comfort level, volunteers may sometimes sit at the residence of a patient while the primary caregiver runs everyday errands. Volunteer sometimes provide just as much reassurance to the caregiver as the patient.
Indirect Volunteers help with clerical work in the office. They may file, answer phone calls, or address envelopes. They may also assist in mail-outs to families regarding bereavement services.
Bereavement Volunteers help families and loved ones on their journey through the grieving process. This may be done through writing letters to the family and loved ones, visiting the family, making calls, assisting in the organization of support groups for those going through a loss, or going to funerals.