My name is Martha. I have been involved as a Hospice volunteer since 2013 after spending my life in a chosen profession of nursing for 51 years. My mother instilled in me the need and reward of “caring volunteering”. Death in a large family situation was not foreign to me and we were not sheltered from the realities of it.
In my career, I had a special “feel” for terminal patients, giving support and dignity to them and their families. My volunteering weekly at Cascade Hospice offers me the same opportunity to interact with clients and extended families & friends with reassurance and a listening ear. I love the “hominess” of the Cascade facility. Many of the small niceties can be met by us Cascade volunteers – rearranging bedside areas, offering drinks, observing cards, pictures & mementos brought from home, or just offering companionship. When newly arrived, we assist in acquainting clients and families to the facility and reinforcing its values. When death does occur, we offer comfort, nearness, and the assurance that nothing will be rushed in their grief time.
