Ambercare Hospice offers the opportunity for volunteers to provide much needed companionship and support to patients and their families. As a vital part of the hospice care team, volunteers receive special training, guidance and supervision that allow them to feel comfortable in the important role that they play in patient’s lives. By giving the gift of their time, volunteers receive a meaningful and rewarding experience in return.
Some of the ways a volunteer can help hospice patients and their families are:
Patient Comfort Visits
Patient Comfort Volunteers provide needed companionship and socialization to patients through conversation, watching TV, reading, or any number of other activities. Visits are provided in a variety of settings including a private home, assisted living facility or nursing home.
Honoring Veterans
Ambercare is a partner in the We Honor Veterans program, which strives to meet the unique needs of veterans and their families. Volunteers who are veterans themselves play an important role in acknowledging the service that these patients have provided to America through pinning ceremonies and other celebratory activities. Veteran volunteers share a common bond with veteran patients and through that empathy can make a difference in making the end of life transition a more peaceful experience.
Music
Volunteers who are musically inclined can help provide a soothing experience for patients. Through music these volunteers can provide emotional support and enhance the quality of life for patients and their families.
Crafts
Volunteers can help bring a smile to patients by lending their creativity to making holiday cards and small crafts that are gifted to patients and families throughout the year.
Prayer Shawl Ministry
Knitting small shawls which are then presented to patients by the hospice chaplain during a special prayer ceremony is a wonderful way in which volunteers can help enhance patients’ lives. Prayer shawls are a special gift that often becomes a cherished keepsake for families to remember their loved one by.
Special Project Volunteers
These volunteers have the opportunity to participate in a number of fun projects, many of these in partnership with other community organizations. They range from staffing a booth at an event such as a health fair, helping with a carwash or BBQ, to fundraising for the Ambercare Foundation or another program that Ambercare supports.