One can assume that most would like to live out their last days in peace and dignity, with the supports in place to not suffer or want for anything. That’s where Danielle Lavoie and the Terrace Regional Hospice Network comes in.
“We’re in people’s homes, bringing them meals, bringing in medical equipment and providing respite, and we always need volunteers. I think a lot of people don’t realize that a lot of the services that we offer, like those people going into somebody’s home to provide respite, is done by a volunteer.
So, they’re, they’re coming to us with a passion for helping people or sitting with people. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re sitting next to somebody who’s passing. They could even be playing cards or just, you know, reading a book to somebody.
So, yeah, we always need volunteers. And I think that is the biggest barrier is more volunteers and more funding.”
Lavoie says volunteering is rewarding.
“I work at the hospice, but I also volunteer outside of that for the hospice, and so I can just speak for my own experience is, you kind of create like a friendship with somebody, and knowing that you’re giving a caregiver a break, so that they can go and do something for themselves while you stay with their loved one.
When I leave, I feel really good about it. I enjoy my visit and, you know, one of the things that kind of comes up for people that we’re providing a service to is, they feel like they don’t want to ask their family and friends for help.
So when we’re saying, you know, I volunteered for to be here, like, I’m not being paid to be here. I want to be here. It really seems to relieve the person who’s accepting that service that, you know, somebody’s showing up every week to sit with them because they want to, they volunteer to do that. So I think it’s a it’s a win-win for the volunteer. And it’s also for the person, you know, receiving the service because and they don’t feel like they have to ask their family member to come and sit with them or their friends or whatever.”
Lavoie says the end goal would be a designated hospice home in Terrace.
“But just that importance of a actual hospice house and seeing that Houston has done it... They’ve been working on getting their hospice together. And, you know, that’s something that we really need. And in Terrace, we have a lot of surrounding communities that have to travel in quite far in order to get the medical care. And so ideally, we would also have a hospice house to support those surrounding communities as well. The Terrace Hospice Society is seeking both volunteers and funding or donations in order to maintain regular operations.”