Friday, April 25, 2008
'Most meaningful thing I've ever done'
Send us your giving news Your Community, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, VA 24010 or e-mail yourcommunity@roanoke.com.Many hospice workers say they get more out of the care program than they give.
Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times
Gordon King (right), a volunteer with Good Samaritan Hospice for four years, chats with patient Ralph Fisher.
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Train to be a Good Samaritan Hospice volunteer
What: Good Samaritan Hospice will train new volunteers to work directly with terminally ill patients and their families. VOlunteers typically visit two to four hours each week.
When: 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday evenings for four weeks, starting May 6 and ending May 27. Deadline for applications is April 30.
Where: 3825-a Electric Road, Roanoke
Contact: Becky Harris or Melinda Bern at 776-0198
Joann Baker loves hospice, but not many of her friends completely understand why, she said. After all, caring for the terminally ill and their loved ones can seem like a draining -- if not depressing -- endeavor.
"A lot of my friends say, 'How can you do that?,' " Baker said about volunteering with Good Samaritan Hospice. "They think it's all doom and gloom."
But, the Daleville resident contends, "It's definitely the most meaningful thing I've ever done."
Good Samaritan Hospice started in 1986 as the only community-based, not-for-profit hospice serving the Roanoke and New River valleys.
People can enroll in hospice once their doctors believe they have six months or less to live.
Then, a hospice team will help patients to live out their final days as comfortably as possible. That team may include nurses, social workers, chaplains, nursing assistants, counselors and volunteers.
The program has grown considerably in recent years, according to its director of volunteer services, Becky Harris.
She says the number of patients has doubled since she started with the program six years ago. There are 75 to 80 patients at one time.
Many volunteers such as Baker say the program has taught them how to live. And, as proverbial as it sounds, they say they get more than they give.
"The philosophy of hospice is that it's a privilege that people let you join them on this journey," Baker said.
The former nurse has volunteered for 15 years and has had more than 30 patients.
Some have died before she even arrived while others have lived more than a year. Her youngest patient was 38 and her oldest was 96.
"The patients teach you," she said. "Every experience is different. You learn something from every family you work with."
She says she has learned to be more humble, appreciate life and accept death as a part of life.
"From the time we're born, we're terminal," Baker said. "I just don't think we've dealt with it over the years."
Another volunteer, Kathy Hull, serves as a hospice chaplain. She described the program as an ideal way to learn about pastoral care.
It teaches people to listen and respect others' life stories, she said.
What surprises Hull most about hospice is how much she laughs with patients.
"No question you shed some tears, but you laugh a lot," Hull said. "And no doubt you talk about profound things."
