Volunteer Program
The service volunteers provide to hundreds of caregivers, patients and staff members each year is simply beyond measure. Carefully chosen and carefully trained, they bring to patients and families an extra pair of hands and a special sensitivity to each situation. They are good listeners, they are compassionate, and they often form an ongoing relationship with the patient and family that lasts until the death of the patient and beyond.
Hospice volunteers sit and talk with patients. They help with household duties. Volunteers write letters, make phone calls, groom hair, play soothing music, tend the garden, and do laundry. They care for pets, shop for food, and prepare light meals. They may also help someone achieve a final wish.
Volunteers do not furnish medical care or advice to the patient or family but they do help in many other non-medical ways. Hospice volunteers also donate their office skills to HPCCC by filing, typing, answering telephones and helping with mailings.
Profile of a Volunteer
It takes a special person to be a volunteer. Here are some of the qualities that make volunteers so successful:
- Availability: Volunteers have the time, or can make the time, to devote a few hours to the work of Hospice each week.
- Flexibility: Volunteers are comfortable with a variety of people and situations.
- Non-judgmental attitude: Volunteers set aside their own attitudes and beliefs.
- Warmth and compassion: Hospice volunteers are experts at holding hands.
- Willingness to help people: They also have energy and optimism.
- Ability to work with others: Each volunteer is a vital part of a team.
Volunteer Opportunities
Direct Care Volunteers: Direct Care Volunteers serve at Tucker Hospice House, in nursing care facilities and in patients’ homes. They help and support patients and families in a variety of ways. The 12-hour General Volunteer Training provides comprehensive information to prepare volunteers for this vital work.
Interlude Music Volunteers: Music Volunteers have additional training to prepare them for playing soothing, comforting music for patients at Tucker Hospice House, in nursing care facilities and in patients’ homes. Some instruments played by volunteers include harp, piano, mandolin, mandola, guitar, bowed psaltery and flute. Other instruments, such as the human voice, are appropriate as well. Should you have questions about the appropriateness of a musical instrument, please contact the Coordinator of the Interlude Music Program. To read more about this program, please click here.
Comforting Paws Volunteers: A pet visitation program is intended to enhance quality of life and is performed by pet volunteers (handlers). Not all pets can perform pet visitation. Prior to making visits, the pet will have passed a screening and it will have achieved a basic level of training through a certified therapy organization. The handler will have also received a basic level of training through a certified therapy organization as well as completed the 12-hour volunteer training course through HPCCC. To read more about this program, please click here.
Office: Office Volunteers assist with filing, typing, answering phones and helping with mailings.
Teen Volunteers: Teen Volunteers assist patients in nursing facilities and at Tucker Hospice House. Teens need to be at least 16 years old and will be required to have a permission form signed by a parent/guardian.
Community Volunteers: Community volunteers help spread the word about hospice care. They help with fundraisers and health fairs. Hundreds of volunteers help sell popular angel ornaments at two trees, located at NEMC and Carolina Mall, during the December Light Up A Life Fundraiser.
Volunteer Training
HPCCC volunteers range in age from 16 and older. They come from all walks of life, and some have been hospice caregivers for their own loved ones. All volunteers are required to attend a12-hour training with HPCCC. They will complete training with an understanding on how they can fully support patients and families who are experiencing a life-limiting illness. Volunteers assist families who need assistance as they care for their loved one and support them as they grieve.
Once Interlude Music Volunteers have completed the 12-hour General Volunteer Training, they schedule orientation, audition, and additional musical training with Kathleen Blackwell-Plank, the Coordinator of the Interlude Music Program.
Participants in the Comforting Paws Program must complete the 12-hour General Volunteer Training course through HPCCC and must also complete training with their pet through a certified therapy organization.
The 12-hour General Volunteer Training sessions are scheduled throughout the year. In addition, specialized trainings and workshops are scheduled for continuing education. For more information see News & Views.
The Spirit of Hospice
There are many reasons why someone may choose to become a Hospice volunteer. They all have one thing in common; they want to make a difference in their community.
“When volunteers come to my home I can go out for an hour or hour and a half. When I return I feel like I’ve had a lift, a refreshing time away. Volunteers are always here when they tell you they’ll be here. And when I ask for help on a special occasion, someone always comes. They are just great.” – Wife of a patient
“My father was a hospice patient several years ago. When I saw the support they gave, I knew it was something I could do to give back to the community. When I heard about hospice training, I signed up.” – Hospice volunteer
“I’m 75 now, and after retirement I wanted a way to give something back to the community, too. I have never ever heard a complaint about hospice from the people I’ve served.” – Hospice volunteer
“One of the wonderful things about hospice is it often takes place in the home, and the children can be right there along with the adults. Grandmother might be dying, but she remains part of the family.” – Hospice Volunteer
