Led by the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA), this year’s theme, “Palliative Care is for You,” underscores that palliative care can begin at any stage of a life-limiting illness and be delivered in a wide range of settings — including at home, in hospital, in long-term care, or in the community. It is whole-person care that helps manage symptoms, ease suffering, and provide emotional and spiritual support.

At Chilliwack Hospice Society, palliative patient visitation plays a vital role in delivering this compassionate care. Specially trained volunteers and professional staff provide one-on-one companionship to individuals receiving palliative care — offering a comforting presence at Cascade Hospice Residence, Chilliwack General Hospital, Bradley Centre, in care facilities, at the Hospice Society, and in private homes.

“Palliative care improves the quality of life by addressing the person as a whole — not just the illness,” says Candice Quesnel, Palliative Services Manager at Chilliwack Hospice Society. “We are here to walk alongside people wherever they are in their journey. It’s never too early to consider palliative care. Our team provides comfort, support, and human connection every step of the way.”

Another essential program offered by Chilliwack Hospice Society is the Caregiver Connection Support Circle — a monthly peer support group designed specifically for those caring for a dying loved one. Caregivers are invited to share experiences, explore anticipatory grief, learn from one another, and access resources in a compassionate, understanding space.

“Caregiving can be both beautiful and challenging,” Quesnel notes. “This group provides emotional support and helps caregivers feel less isolated. It’s about creating a community where people feel heard, seen, and supported.”

Chilliwack Hospice Society provides these and many other palliative care support services at no cost and without the need for a referral. The organization is committed to ensuring individuals and families in Chilliwack and surrounding areas receive the care and support they need, when they need it most.

To learn more about palliative care support, visit www.chilliwackhospice.org.

Chilliwack Hospice Society is a community-based organization that helps individuals and families dealing with dying and death through support, education, and programs that promote wellness and healthy grieving.

In addition to recognizing the growing needs in our community, the PieceMakers acknowledged the financial challenges that often accompany those needs. Their donation was made with the intention that it would support and strengthen our ongoing commitment to compassionate, community-based care.

Beyond financial support, the PieceMakers Quilting Guild also contributes in a deeply personal way—by donating handmade quilts throughout the year. These beautiful quilts are placed on the beds at Cascade Hospice Residence, offering warmth and comfort to those who are dying. After the death, the quilt is gifted to the surviving family as a keepsake — a lasting reminder of care, dignity, and compassion.

At Cascade Hospice, Chilliwack Hospice Society provides comfort care and skilled volunteer support to patients and their families. Our team offers presence, companionship, and practical help to those navigating the final days of life. The quilts from PieceMakers play a quiet but powerful role in that work.

“These quilts wrap our patients and families in comfort,” says Candice Quesnel, BSW, RSW, Palliative Services Manager at Chilliwack Hospice Society. “They represent the spirit of community care that makes Chilliwack such a special place.”

We are deeply thankful to the Chilliwack PieceMakers Quilting Guild for their kindness, generosity, and continued support. You make a difference.

A new format of group grief support, a Coffee and Compassion Circle will offer the experience of compassion in a drop-in model. To be facilitated once monthly on Monday afternoons starting at 1:00pm, the circle will offer grievers the opportunity to connect with others who are grieving the death of a loved one, to improve their understanding of the grief process, to ask unanswered questions in a safe, supportive space, and to learn about the free programs and services offered by Chilliwack Hospice Society.

A grief support group dedicated to pet loss will give those who are grieving the death of a beloved pet a safe, non-judgmental space to mourn this meaningful death with others who understand. Discussion topics will include normalizing grief, making room to grieve, self-care, the importance of rituals, and memorializing your pet. The pet loss grief support group will meet once weekly for four consecutive weeks, starting September 11.

For families grieving the death of a grownup or sibling in a child’s life, the Child and Youth Program will be facilitating monthly Family Art Nights to help children and their grownups process their grief through creative expression. The group will offer participants a safe place to connect with other families who are coping with grief and loss and to share their experiences if they choose. Projects will include memory lanterns, pour painting, and Christmas ornaments.

Movement can be very helpful when coping with stress or grief. A new walking group for caregivers will offer mutual support and camaraderie for those who are caring for a dying person while improving overall well-being by walking along the beautiful Vedder Rotary Trail. Strength in Strides: Caregiver’s Journey will meet once weekly for eight weeks, beginning September 11.

First Step Grief Support Group will meet Saturday mornings this Fall beginning October 19. An eight-week closed program at Chilliwack Hospice Society, First Step offers mutual support and socialization for bereaved adults wanting to share the journey into change and renewal. Grief has no timeline. As such, some group members may choose to begin participating in the weeks following the death of their loved one. Others may find themselves open to the benefits of participating in a grief support group years later and are welcome to do so.

“Each grief support group Chilliwack Hospice Society facilitates offers participants validation, comfort, and a chance to feel seen as they navigate significant loss in their lives,” says Executive Director Sue Knott. “While we cannot fix their pain, we can hold space for them and offer care and compassion for the grief journey.”

Throughout the year, in addition to groups, Chilliwack Hospice Society provides one-to-one grief support for children, youth, and adults. Professional staff offer guidance through the tangled processes of grief and loss that accompany dying and death. It does not matter when or how the death occurred, or how a person is connected to the death — anyone can benefit from this support.

If you or someone you know is grieving the death of a loved one right now, call Chilliwack Hospice Society at (604) 795-4660 or visit www.chilliwackhospice.org to learn more about the one-to-one support, groups, and workshops that are currently being offered. Chilliwack Hospice Society programs and services are provided free of cost thanks to the generosity of individual donors and businesses in our community. Donations are always gratefully accepted at the Thrifty Boutique and online at www.chilliwackhospice.org/donate

For more information, news, and events, join our email newsletter list or follow @ChilliwackHospice on Facebook and Instagram.

Chilliwack Hospice Society is a community-based organization that helps individuals and families dealing with dying and death through support, education, and programs that promote wellness and healthy grieving.

Wherever you are — whether in hospice, at home, in long-term care, or in the hospital — palliative care can help you to live as well as you can through a life-limiting illness. Your illness affects many parts of your life. Palliative care can support you with your pain and other symptoms, your emotional and mental health, your spiritual well-being, and/or your practical needs for daily life.

Serious illnesses have or will affect us all. Palliative care is there to support everyone affected by someone’s illness, from patients to caregivers and loved ones. Palliative care helps those who care for you while you are sick and those who care about you. If your illness leads to death, it also supports your loved ones with their grief.

Join Chilliwack Hospice Society in spreading the word that palliative care is for you and for everyone. We all deserve compassionate support and care when serious illness affects our lives.

Talking about palliative care can be hard, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. That’s why CHPCA created these three info sheets to help everyone understand what hospice palliative care is, when palliative care can help, and where it can be found.

• What is palliative care?
• When should I think about palliative care?
• Where can I find palliative care?

For more information about palliative care supports at Chilliwack Hospice Society and in our community, please contact Candice Quesnel, BSW, Palliative Services Manager, at (604) 795-4660 or email candice@chilliwackhospice.org

Chilliwack Hospice Society is a community-based organization that helps individuals and families dealing with dying and death through support, education, and programs that promote wellness and healthy grieving.

#PalliativeCareIsForYou #NHPCW

Candice Quesnel

In her important role, Candice will oversee the training, support, and scheduling of our dedicated, skilled palliative care support volunteers at Cascade Hospice Residence, as well as providing essential support to palliative patients both in hospital and within the community. A key part of her position will also be to facilitate groupwork, with an emphasis on anticipatory grief and caregiver support, enhancing the services already offered by the Hospice Society‘s grief support programs.

Additionally, Candice is set to reintroduce vigil services, further enriching the care and support provided to individuals and families during the very last stages of life. Her new position marks a significant step in our commitment to delivering compassionate, empathetic, and comprehensive palliative care support services.

Entryway to Cascade Hospice Residence where Chilliwack Hospice Society provide free bereavement and palliative care support services to patients and their families.

Facilitated by Jennifer Dacre, Manager of Bereavement and Palliative Services, group participants met two to three times weekly through the month of September for a total of 35 hours required. Through lectures, videos, group activities, panel discussions, and guest speakers, participants learned about the history of hospice palliative care, types of grief and grieving styles, compassionate communication, and boundaries, working within family dynamics, psychosocial and spiritual care, perspectives on medical assistance in dying and pain management, supporting bereaved children and youth, complementary bereavement therapies, and prioritizing self-care.

The kitchen at Cascade Hospice Residence where patients, their families, and volunteers can get a cup of coffee or a freshly baked item.

Upon completion of Basic Hospice Training and a post-interview, 12 new individuals have begun job-shadowing existing volunteers at Cascade with the hope they will become regular client and patient volunteers themselves. Hospice volunteers are specially selected and trained individuals who have the maturity and experience to be a caring listener to a terminally ill or bereaved person or family member. Hospice volunteers are compassionate observers who bring a caring heart and an understanding approach to a stressful situation. Often our volunteers can be found sitting by the bedside of someone who is dying or bringing a cup of tea to one of their family members.

One of ten guest rooms at Cascade Hospice Residence. A beautiful quilt, handmade and donated by a member of one of several quilting guilds in Chilliwack, features prominently on the bed. We are appreciative of these incredible donations which become cherished keepsakes of family members after their loved one has died.

Chilliwack Hospice Society does not own or operate the Cascade Hospice Residence. Instead, hospice volunteers complement and work alongside the palliative health care team. Outside of the family support system, our volunteers are often the only other consistent presence in a patient’s final days. Hospice palliative care aims to relieve suffering and improve a patient’s quality of living until death.

Garden fountain and covered courtyard for Cascade Hospice Residence patients and families to relax in a quiet, outdoor space.

To learn more about Basic Hospice Training and to join the waitlist for the next course, go to www.chilliwackhospice.org/education