Posts Tagged ‘volunteer
An Empty Seat at the Table During Father’s Day – Houston Hospice’s Guide to Grief Support on Special Occasions
Father’s Day is a time for families to celebrate traditions and make memories, but for those mourning the loss of their patriarch or loved one, Father’s Day can be difficult.
Volunteer Sylvia Valverde pictured in Houston Hospice’s Garden in the Texas Medical Center.
For Sylvia Valverde, a retired Houston Independent School District administrator and Houston Hospice volunteer (pictured right), honoring her father’s legacy has helped her through her grief journey.
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Houston Hospice Names 2020 Volunteer of the Year
Building a culture of caring is exemplified in the life of our 2020 Volunteer of the Year, Rob Henderson, as we share his inspiration, what draws him to hospice care, and how he became Volunteer of the Year.
Rob Henderson – Volunteer of the Year
“Rob Henderson is a committed volunteer who goes the extra mile for Houston Hospice,” said Volunteer Manager Patty Valle.
As a retired engineer, Rob has found his calling to serve others. At Houston Hospice, he volunteers his friendly smile at the main office front desk on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. In addition, he participates in our volunteer team meetings, and has served on the Employee Committee as volunteer representative.
Over the past two years, he has found many more ways to connect with others at Houston Hospice. “Rob is also one of our Home Care Volunteers and is always willing to visit or call a patient if needed,” Patty continued. “Also, he is quick to offer donations and his time to help families in need.” When he is not visiting with patients, attending meetings and answering phones, Rob finds time to assist with data entry, and recently began repairing the 100+ shutters in our inpatient unit.
“We sincerely thank Rob for the many gifts he has shared with our staff, patients, and families. He goes where Houston Hospice has a need, and is always ready for his next assignment. Rob exemplifies the true spirit of hospice volunteering, and has made a positive impact on all of us. For this we are truly grateful,” said Patty.
Living My Best Life, an interview about family and giving back
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Safety and compassion through COVID-19
Houston Hospice works with families to ensure patients’ safety, comfort during COVID-19
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Houston Hospice has taken extra precautions to guard patients, families, loved ones, and staff members from the spread of the disease caused by the Coronavirus. Their safety remains our top priority as we continue to advocate for uncompromising, compassionate end-of-life care. Increasing safety and compassion through COVID-19 is our goal.
Cynthia Nordt
Safety is Paramount
Earlier this year, as confirmed cases started to rise in the Greater Houston Area, the Houston Hospice leadership team, with the support of board members, made difficult, but necessary decisions to safeguard vulnerable patients from the spread of the virus. To maintain safe and secure on-site operations, visitors are allowed at a maximum of two per patient. In addition, every person entering the building is required to have their temperatures checked, daily, and wearing safety masks is a must. To maintain 6-feet of social distancing guidelines, communal areas are temporarily closed.
Offsite, nurses and support staff are taking extra precautions to keep patients safe. For those patients who still wish to receive home care, our staff maintain sanitized proper PPE, sort medical supplies to avoid cross contamination, wash hands before and after visits and use hand sanitizer often, throughout the day. Volunteer opportunities have been paused until it is safe for all involved.
Zoom Meetings and Remote Staff
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Houston Hospice Volunteer of the Year
It Wouldn’t Be Monday Without Debbie
Eleven-year volunteer, Debbie Hoelscher, has been named volunteer of the year by Houston Hospice. As a nonprofit organization, Houston Hospice relies upon over 300 volunteers to help set the tone for the compassionate care patients and families receive. Since 2003, Debbie Hoelscher has volunteered in both the inpatient care center and in patients’ homes. Volunteer Coordinator, Patsy Piner said, “It wouldn’t be Monday at hospice without Debbie here tending the flowers, tending the patients, and bringing serenity and calmness into our lives.”
Volunteering With Hospice Isn’t For Everyone
About her work in hospice Debbie states, “The families truly appreciate the smallest gift of your time and doing this type of work gives me a great sense of gratefulness.” Debbie also trains incoming volunteers and many have noted her ability to engage and be at ease with patients and their families. Ms. Piner added, “We often say that volunteering with hospice is not for everyone, but Debbie has a gift for this type of work and we are glad she spends her Mondays with us.”
Volunteers are an integral part of nonprofit Houston Hospice’s team; serving patients and families with caring expertise in the Houston Hospice care center, in patients’ homes and in assisted living facilities. To learn more about volunteering at Houston Hospice, call 713-467 7423 or visit www.houstonhospice.org.
-Karla Goolsby, Houston Hospice Communication Specialist
The Joy of Living as Shared by a Hospice Patient
April 10, 2012—Another Hospice volunteer and I sit at the bedside of an animated, talkative 97-year-old African American woman whom I’ll call “Louise.” Her thin face is haloed with a white cotton turban, and her eyes sparkle with good humor. She tells us that she fell in her home and broke a hip, the first broken bone in her long life and her first time having to go to a hospital. She was able to reach the phone to call for help, and she waited quietly lying on the floor until her sister arrived.
While the doctors were examining her, they found that Louise had metastasized cancer. Today she reminisces about picking cotton and corn as a child on her family’s riverside farm in the small town of Edna, Texas. Louise never married, but after finishing elementary school, she worked as a housekeeper for a couple who moved north to Chicago. When the husband died, she followed the ailing wife to a retirement community in Florida and cared for her until her death. Nineteen years ago, Louise moved back to Texas to be near her extended family. She lists the names of her siblings and nieces and nephews, and gives us their birth dates. When I asked the date of her own birthday, she boasts, “I’ll turn 98 on April 21.” She says, “People tell me that I have lots of stories to tell.” Joan and I assure her that she surely does. Louise still has a group of friends whom she wants to notify about where she is. Some are in nursing homes, and they still manage to stay in touch.
April 17, 2012—Louise is delighted to see me again and asks me to switch off the TV that the nurses have left on for her entertainment. She’d much rather chat and regale me with the same stories she told me the week before. She is excited about her upcoming 98th birthday party on April 21 and tells me she always hoped she’d live to be 100. When the preacher from her neighborhood Baptist church arrives to pray with her, she treats him with deep respect. I leave them to their prayers and encounter Anne, the social worker in the hallway. She says that Louise is too healthy to stay at the inpatient unit of Hospice, and that paperwork is in motion to have her transferred to another facility.
April 24, 2012—I notice a bunch of shiny balloons still inflated on the ceiling in one corner of the room. Louise tells me about her cousins, nieces, nephews and step-sister escorting her in a wheel chair to celebrate her birthday in the courtyard with soup and ice cream and other soft foods “that I can eat with my dentures.” I hear all about the music and presents and laughter, and suddenly Louise is quiet. We both realize that the party’s over and that unless a miracle occurs it’s the last birthday she will celebrate.
I ask if she’d like me to read her some psalms. Louise responds, “Whatever you do for me, honey, I accept gratefully.” But before I reach for her Bible, she recites aloud by memory part of Psalm #23 and the entire Lord’s Prayer. She confides, “I say those words every morning as soon as I’m awake and repeat them at bedtime, when I send prayers to any loved ones who are especially needy.” Louise reminisces about singing spirituals in her Baptist-Methodist farmland church. I sing Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho and Amazing Grace with her, and she chimes in, with a grin on her emaciated face. Afterwards, Louise admits, “I can’t sing worth a darn, but if someone else is singing, I can’t help but join in. I don’t understand the words to modern songs, but those spirituals bring me right back to my childhood.” Just as I’m leaving the room, a hospice volunteer named Loretta visits with her 4-pound “therapy dog,” Gigi—small and gentle enough to cuddle up next to Louise, who claims to be frightened of big dogs.
May 1, 2012—I arrive with my guitar to accompany our spirituals, eager to see Louise, and I’m stunned by her transformation. She is asleep in her bed, without all the pillows that usually prop up her back. Her body looks tiny, and now that her mouth is free of dentures, her face is shrunken. She is breathing so lightly that her chest barely moves. I decide to sing quietly at her bedside. She makes no response, and I hope that the familiar melodies are reaching her on a subconscious level. I realize that once her 98th birthday party has come and gone, and everyone she loves has shown up to honor her, Louise is ready to let go of life. She is tired and doesn’t want to be transferred to a long-term care facility. Silently bidding her farewell, I slip out of the room. I know that it’s likely that this is my last view of her. Louise has given me the gift of her joie de vivre, and I feel grateful to her.
–Houston Hospice volunteer, Ginger Clarkson
