It Takes a Village: The HHA Team
Number of Full Time Staff 0
Number of Volunteers 96
Number of Projects Engaged 31
Number of Volunteer Hours Invested 57,600
Value of Volunteer Investment $1,374,336.00
As we look back in celebration of this 2018 Volunteer Appreciation Event, this past year is best summed up as…”here we grow again”! Growing in human resources happened for many reasons.
Humber College “3rd to 1st Volunteer Project
In the spring of 2016, Tracey had the opportunity to present the mission and vision of HHA to a class of students at Humber College. She lit a fire! Young; creative minds from around the world would be the best way to describe the Global Business Management Students that worked with Home Hospice Association. In over 30 students taking on the task of helping answer the questions: What are the steps to…Project Plans have been a key to our success this year. We were pleased to see students reaching out to request an internship with HHA even before the start of the school year! We are excited to see where this relationship goes in the coming years.
About the HHA Coop Experience: Social Services Worker Student
Writing the RFP was a new experience that I think as a social service worker student myself, was an interesting way to learn how to apply the skills and ethics we learn about in class to a new field. At the same time we completed a potential suppliers database.
Since the start of our coop, a lot has happened and the foundation for an exciting new year has been laid down. HHA presented us with the opportunity to visit a day hospice in Scarborough. This inspired us to want to take on the project of creating and running our own Day Hospice program.
This semester has seen HHA and SSW students overcome several hurdles due to the Ontario College Strike, but with a positive attitude and with inspiring leadership from Tracey we have persevered.
It has been a busy four months and we can’t wait for the next four! The New Year will see the development and completion of several projects. The SSW team is very excited to be introducing Humber Lakeshore’s very first Death Café in January. On behalf of the SSW team we’d like to thank HHA for welcoming us and supporting our learning and eagerly await everything that the future holds for this partnership!
Celebrating our Humber College Successes
Over 100 Students have worked on projects and project plans since the start of the working relationship
Over 25% of these students chose to continue with their internships; even though HHA was only able to offer unpaid positions
The addition of a new working relationship with the Faculty of Social Work
Chosen as a Capstone Project Recipient
Cultural Diversity of this “community” has been the springboard to our Cultural and Sensitivity Training that is be a prerequisite for any relationship with HHA
Growing The Professional Resources Our Chapters Communities Need.
We continued to develop those who wish to provide pre and perinatal hospice services through the facilitation of two Infant Pregnancy Loss training weekends. A multi-faceted Steering Committee started work on the Palliative PSW training program. Death Doula training team has completed the training modules and we successfully launched the first Death Doula training in November in Niagara, with an additional two dates scheduled in 2018.
Volunteer Boomers…Plus!
Meeting the needs of today’s senior volunteers began with focus groups in Mississauga and Cambridge to learn more about how to engage older volunteers. Following this, we launched the Boomers…Plus Team, a volunteer group which engages volunteers 55 years of age and older. All our Chapters; present and future will benefit greatly from this targeted focus.
Team GrandPaws is the first project within Volunteer Boomers…Plus. A community of active seniors who are passionate about the role pets play in today’s family dynamic and are looking for ways to engage in their “civic duty” from a compassionate consciousness. The uniqueness of the Bello Project, which Team GrandPaws’ members support, offers the best chance to attract attention among members of the animal welfare community, palliative care community and senior’s advocacy community.
RVT (Registered Veterinarian Technician) Mentorship Program
1). To mentor our volunteers to provide quality pet care in a compassionate and qualified manner and provide peace of mind to our terminally ill human clients. Across Ontario,
2).Registered Veterinary Technicians will be recruited to train, educate and mentor our volunteers and equip them with the knowledge they need to;
Recognise concerns in animal health of our clients’ animals (be the advocate for the animal, as the owner may be too ill to do that)
Fore-see changes that may cause unwanted stress to animals in the changing homes of our clients
Initiate positive responses to areas of concern that arise in the animals in our care
Home Hospice Association could not do the work it does without the volunteers
who give of themselves tirelessly. We thank them from the bottom of our collective hearts.
For more information on how to become a part of the HHA village please visit: www.homehospiceassociation.com/copy-of-get-involved