Volunteer shares story of hospice experience

* For information on how to become a volunteer, call 1-800-339-7011.

Alice Altenburg (left) of Allegany became a hospice volunteer more than six years ago.  A retired elementary school teacher, she had volunteered for various organizations.  When she discovered hospice, she committed herself to a mission so many people share throughout western New York – to support terminally ill patients and their families.

“In 1997, my mother needed care.  She had a terminal illness,” Alice said.

HomeCare & Hospice provided Alice’s mother with a home health aide to assist with day-to-day tasks, skilled nursing and spiritual care.  Alice received bereavement support visits, mailings and telephone calls for more than a year after her mother died.

“I was very impressed with the program and the care she received,” Alice recalls.  “She was on hospice for about four months.  It was my only chance to get out.  Mom and I both looked forward to the staff visits.”

After her mother died, Alice decided she wanted to give something back.  She talked to her spiritual care coordinator about working with hospice patients, but the agency asked she wait about one year to address her grief.

At the earliest possible moment, Alice called HomeCare & Hospice and applied to become a patient care volunteer.  She knew nothing about hospice except what she learned taking care of her mom.  HomeCare & Hospice provided her with training and she began her new volunteer career.

Today, Alice reads to patients and writes letters for them.  She helps them to the bathroom and shifts them in bed.  She walks with them and prepares meals.

“I had a patient with Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” she remembers.  “I would take him the newspaper and pick out articles to read.  I read books and gave him water.”

After the patient died, she provided bereavement support.

“I talked to his wife.  It was hard for her at first, to talk about his death,” she said.  “It was hard for her to accept it.  But it was easier for her talk to me, because we knew each other.”

In addition to patient care, HomeCare & Hospice receives support from office and special event volunteers.  Office volunteers perform clerical duties, which directly support the HomeCare & Hospice mission.  Guild and special event volunteers staff and support activities, including the Tree of Life, Spring Bouquet Sale and Hike for Hospice.

When asked what makes a good volunteer, Peggy Gillespie, volunteer coordinator, replied, “A caring heart.”  She added, “It makes you feel better as a person to reach out, to meet someone else’s needs.”

In Cattaraugus County, hundreds of residents face terminal illness each year.  Often, a loved one cannot care for that person alone.  The hospice program of HomeCare & Hospice provides skilled nursing care, such as medication administration, wound care and catheterization, and home health aide care.  Spiritual care coordinators, social workers and bereavement coordinators provide additional support to both the patient and their family.  Hospice also provides durable medical equipment, supplies and medication related to the terminal illness.

Without HomeCare & Hospice, patients may not have the choice to die with dignity in the comfort of their home.