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Experience Leads to Volunteering
 A
death in the family
leads to a new volunteer opportunity.
When Ray’s
father-in-law passed away two years ago, the compassion and care
experienced by his family at Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice inspired him
to help others in similar situations by becoming a volunteer in any way
that he could.
“Even if they
just needed someone to empty the trash – I’d do it,” said Ray.
A Better
Opportunity
Ray joined the
Comfort Crossings volunteer program through Harry Hynes Memorial
Hospice. Funded by United Way of the Plains, Comfort Crossings places
volunteers with people who are in the last stages of their lives. The
volunteers are there to give the family a small break from sitting with
their loved one, to provide comfort for those with families who simply
can’t bring themselves to be with their dying family member, or for
those dying who do not have family or friends to be with them.
The goal of
Harry Hynes through Comfort Crossings is to enable people to “die with
dignity,” by not being alone in their final stages of life.
Harry Hynes
provides excellent and thorough training sessions for the volunteers who
are expected to always be on call to meet the changing needs of the
families.
Ray also notes
that the help at Harry Hynes does not end when the death occurs, but
continues for as long as necessary, offering the family compassion and
optional counseling services.
A Small but
Meaningful Task
“All I’ve done
is sit and held hands and tried to give them a sense that they’re not
alone,” said Ray of his volunteer duties.
Ray acknowledges
the internal rewards of volunteering during this process.
“The best thing
about the volunteer program is having the sense that you provided some
comfort to the individual passing and encouragement to the family,” said
Ray.
Impacting the
Volunteers
Ray explains
that the volunteer program makes him and all the volunteers more
sensitive to the dying process as it helps them to be more caring,
understanding and less judgmental of families in these difficult
situations.
“Harry Hynes is probably one of the most impressive groups I’ve been
associated with as a volunteer,” said Ray. “Most volunteers are there
because of personal experience – the organization is impressive from the
bottom to the top.”
Article by Stacy Gramza
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more about how your support of United Way of the
Plains is helping our community. More Stories:
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Fostering Health and Independence
Issue: Individuals
are sometimes left all alone while in their last stages of life.
United Way Actions: United Way helps fund the
Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice Comfort Crossings volunteer program which
provides on-call volunteers to sit with dying individuals and relieve
their family members for necessary periods of time.
Results: Those who are dying as well as their
families are given comfort and compassion by volunteers.
United Way impacts issues that matter:
For more information:
See other programs funded in the above impact areas by clicking above. |
