Bringing Hope to the Community

Five days a year, we Patch employees stop what we're doing on our web sites (although our Blackberry is always in our back pocket in the event of breaking news) to give back to the communities in which we're based. It's a program called Give 5 and was founded in the belief that we need to "give back" to our communities.

I spent time Thursday morning at Hope Hospice, helping with office work. Hospice's  focus is on keeping a patient comfortable once their disease can no longer be treated or cured. Care is delivered by a team of hospice physicians, nurses, social workers, home-health aides, volunteers, chaplains and bereavement counselors. In addition to in-home visits, telephone advice and urgent care is available 24/7. 

When you enter the lobby at Hope Hospice, the environment is warm and welcoming. Over the past two months, every time I've arrived someone has offered a smile or asked to help me. It's a place I'm getting to know well, because since early last month, I've been attending three-hour classes once a week to train as an in-home volunteer.

A television on the wall displays quotes from people who have benefited from Hope Hospice's services.  And they go far beyond in-home care. Hope Hospice offers grief, children-, teen- and family-support programs, tragic loss support and caregiver support. The organization is there for people during a time no one wants to go through: saying goodbye to a loved one.

Whenever I go to Hope Hospice, I find myself getting more than I can ever give. This is an organization that brings hope to people when they need it most. Its employees and volunteers make sure that patients experience a peaceful death, that they won't be alone and that no matter what, each individual and their family will have hope.