New Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers at the Sussman House. Back row: Guy Brandes, Kate Bennett, Susan Stopper, Steve Ruelke. Front row: Jill Richard, Chris Eger, Linda Gamlen. Missing from photo: Martha Meyer and Rebecca Greene. (Photo courtesy Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers)
Following a 20-hour training course, nine Knox and Lincoln County residents recently received certificates as hospice volunteers. Among the new volunteers is Chris Eger, of Damariscotta.
During the final training session, an orientation at the Sussman Hospice House in Rockport, Coastal Family Hospice Executive Director Rebecca JangDhari Brandes provided an overview and introduced each of the new volunteers.
Mary Therese Kelly-Onoshko, Sussman House Director, and Rev. Ken Dale, Hospice Chaplain, then welcomed the new recruits, thanking them for their willingness to help and explaining the crucial role of this special facility for end-of-life care.
“We’re thrilled to have hospice volunteers,” Kelly-Onoshko said. Rev. Dale, who has been involved with Hospice for 30 years, noted, “The biggest part of my job is listening”. . . likewise a key role for the volunteers.
Following a tour of the building — with seven private rooms surrounded by individual patios, bird feeders, and gardens — several of the new volunteers shared their motivations for wanting to be part of the organization.
Many had already had personal experience with hospice care, typically for parents, siblings, or friends. Others had talked with volunteers and felt they wanted to help.
Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1979 to provide volunteer support to MaineHealth Care at Home’s hospice patients and their families in Knox and Lincoln Counties and at the Sussman Hospice House. At the center of their mission is the belief that no one should die or grieve alone.
For more information, go to coastalfamilyhospice.com, call 230-0042, or email coastalfamilyhospicevolunteers@gmail.com.
