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Lola Swanagan's thoughts:
Cathy Cich and staff were so good to my dad when he had cancer. They kept him out of pain and let him die with dignity. They were also kind to my mother. I wanted to be able to pay back but shortly after, my mom became sick and died, then my husband died of heart surgery complications. I was lonely and grieving. I went to volunteer training to do something worthwhile with my time and be around people.
I have been so blessed by this experience. I've met very kind and appreciative people. It feels good to be helping others and to feel needed.
This helped me so much to get through the holidays to take my mind off of me and concentrate on others and to see how God can use me to bless others and in turn receive his blessings.
Jane Antonucci's thoughts:
Volunteering for Charity Hospice allows me the opportunity to do God's work, provide comfort, safety and quality of life for our neighbors.
Three times with our parents, I have experienced the caregiver's role. I know the stress of the situation. I know that feeling of relief when someone comes in your home with understanding, comfort, love and honesty as the Charity Hospice staff brings. I know the appreciation felt by the family. And I know I want to be a part of the team who enters into that situation to help families through a very difficult time.
As a patient volunteer, a family member , who is the full time caregiver, is able to keep a doctor's appointment, go to the bank or just simply get away from their daily duties.
In my volunteer role, I have been witness to very endearing moments between a patient and spouse. To be allowed to see that commitment is humbling for me. Another time, I arrived at a home and the spouse said they were so happy to see me right then that I received a kiss and a hug. With one patient, we listened to music or I read from the Bible, both of which relaxes and gives quality of life. Sometimes I am just there to listen to a patients's life stories, some bringing laughter while others bring tears, but I love to hear them.
We all know volunteering is rewarding and being a part of someone's journey to the next life is a special way to contribute and to serve others.
Charity Hospice staff will offer you the knowledge, love and understanding allowing you to do God's work. And staff support is available 24 hours a day. Please consider joining our team, your help is always needed.
Sister Maria's thoughts:
To me, hospice is the chance to say to a soul, like a baby afraid to be born "Do not be afraid! You have never experienced what awaits you, but it is fullness and beauty beyond what you can imagine. Do not be afraid to live more fully!"
My experience as a Charity Hospice volunteer has been more gratifying then words can express. It is to experience helping another to resolve the unresolved and to help repair mistakes. It is to hear beautiful memories and to sympathize with regrets. It is learning to love them and the people they love. It is an opportunity to be one of the last confirmations of God's love for them on this earth.
I have never seen more capable or compassionate care given to the sick then I have witnessed from the staff and nurses of Charity Hospice. The love and tenderness with which they minister to their patients convinces me they shall one day hear the words of Jesus" Come, you who are blessed by my Father...for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink...naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me.." addressed to them.
God bless you Julie! Please give my love to Cathy and the crew.
In His Love,
Sister Maria, servant of Abba Father
Special notes from our Families:
Dear Debbie,
Thank you so much for staying in touch, it has been a tough year, I miss my mom everyday, I still have trouble going to the cemetery, but I do, and I talk to her, I just hope she hears me.
I thank God everyday for Charity Hospice, for everyone that helped , I will always be grateful.
Shelly & Joann were awesome with my mom, she really loved them. Shelly would just sit with her, even if it was 11:00 at night, she was there. She has a wonderful heart. Joann always came in with a smile ready to help with anything & everything. My mom loved to talk with both of them.
Cancer is such a shock but when there are people like the staff of Charity Hospice it makes things a bit easier. I'm glad I was able to make my mom's last few weeks filled with people who really cared. I know this is their job but they make you feel like family. They are truly angels. I thank God everyday for all of you.
Love, Gina
My Charity Hospice Family,
I want to thank you for being so kind to Tom. All staff at Charity are so kind, you all did a great job with us. Thank you. Tom is at peace . He sent me a warm feeling that made me know he made it home. God bless you all...
I want to thank you and your staff for helping me and my family through the process of my father's final hours here and his journey back to Heaven. Thank you for making sure he was given adequate medication to keep him comfortable & for answering my frantic calls. We are so glad you came to see us at the funeral home to offer your love & support. You & your staff are angels on earth. God bless you all... |
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From Mary Alice Mitchell
I first became aware of "Hospice" when my mother, age 91, became ill. She was referred to hospice by her physician. Her diagnosis was "failure to thrive'. These people were some of the most beautiful people
I had ever met. They were kind,
compassionate and always ready to help. They
helped our family through the dying process. Needless to say, there is no way to thank people like this.
I was working at the time and my next encounter with hospice was when my supervisor became ill with cancer. Once again I watched
as they provided loving care for her (in her home). To me, they were truly angels of the Lord, sent to do his work.
I always knew I wanted to be a part of this "bunch of angels". I wanted to "give back". I will never forget my first patient. And with her , I realized that
I wasn't "giving back",
I just kept receiving. I received so much more from her than
what I gave.
Each person that I've had the privilege of "being" with through their illness is different and special. I have learned and been given so much from these people and from the hospice group. They have helped me to grow and learn and I thank God everyday for leading me in this direction.
Sister Teresa's thoughts:
I am so grateful for the opportunity to share my experience as a hospice volunteer. The only problem is that it may go beyond the requested "few sentences". But I figure you can just use what you want, feeling free to cut & paste, delete & edit.
So...to begin: I am so grateful for the blessing of being a Charity Hospice volunteer. When I first started the training I really had no intention of becoming a volunteer (sorry to say). I just was following Sr. Elizabeth's advice that it would be good to go through the training. But as I learned the "ins & outs" of what hospice is, in particular, what Charity Hospice is - I was hooked. I think it was the very evident spirit of love that pervaded each of the talks & each of the staff. The inspiration for Charity Hospice truly was from God and continues to be the inspiration the "spirit in" all that I have seen & experienced in this past year....which is: the spirit of love and the desire to be an instrument of God's peace at one of the greatest moments in a person's journey on earth. That is what I learned in the training, that is what I have seen in the administration, the nurses, the staff & volunteers, and that is what I have been so blessed to experience in my own life as I have visited with & ministered to the patients and families.
What a tremendous honor it is to be welcomed into someone's life at such an intimate moment. I believe that every moment of our life is, ideally, leading up to our death. So to be a part of someone's final journey, even though I may have never met them before is a treasured gift. I have been so blessed to see the love & care with which God, Himself, prepares the soul to meet Him. I've seen the beauty of loved ones attentively gathered around their beloved wishing them well, seeing to their every need, offering love & prayers & support in every way. I've seen the fidelity of spouses & the tenderness of children. I've witnessed the outstanding generosity, patience & commitment of the hospice staff.
I have experienced the joy of bringing a bit of light & peace at a (sometimes) very painful & difficult time. I've learned more deeply the value of each person & of each moment in that person's life. I've come to see death & the whole process of dying as a true blessing by which one is able to let go of this life in order to embrace the next.
In sum (sorry it's taken me so many words to get to this:) I believe God has brought me into Charity Hospice that I might catch a glimpse of His love for each & every person and to learn that death can truly be a beautiful experience if one is given the proper care, attention & love.
Your motto says it best: Where charity and love prevail, there God is ever found!
Special notes from our Families:
Dearest Cathy, Debbie, Shelly, Sherry, Kim,
Nancy, Barbara and all the Charity family,
Thank you all for your presence and time.
Thank you for all the information that helps in these situations. Thank you for your patience with me. I have no monies to give, I only have a voice to let people know you are out there. I hope the gifts you receive help to make the road easier for someone else. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart and I hope God fulfills your every dream two fold.
Thank you, Kim
I have been trying to think of a way to put it in words what you all did for Freda and me to ease our minds and fears. We were more afraid of the unknown and what was before us then we were of the cancer. We had so many questions and you answered all of them. You were God's blessing to us.
Thanks, thanks for everything.
Bill & Todd
My family & I want to thank all of you fine loving, caring folks at Charity Hospice; may you continue to do "Gods" work here on earth; may "His Light" ever be present in "Our Lives" "God" be with "You" & also with "Me". Love ya all...
You are all angels who came from heaven and made our life much easier. Thanks for all your support. Love...
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