Everyone walks, runs, dances, and bikes for cures. That’s awesome! But what about the care that is needed when no amount of money in the world can cure a person?
What is it about the word, “Hospice” that scares people? Is it the thought that they might need it one day? Is it the thought that someone they love might need it one day?
If either of these situations arise in a person’s life, wouldn’t it be nice to know that help is available; compassionate assistance at no cost to the person or family?
Most of us buy home and health insurance and pay dearly for it. Not because we hope to have something happen to our home or to become ill and require regular medications for the rest of our life. We simply know that these things can and likely will happen at some point and we choose to protect ourselves and our families from the financial burden that would befall us and them if we don’t buy insurance.
Well, we are all going to die. Unless a person dies suddenly, the need for hospice care is likely going to become part of each of our lives. Of course, we can hope for our families to take care of us while they go to work full time, take care of children, and attend to household needs. We can hope that there will be an available hospice bed in a facility close enough for family and friends to visit. Or maybe we’ll be lucky and get to spend our final weeks in a hospital (if they let us stay that long) and die in that environment. No offence to hospital staff but the rooms are hardly ‘cozy’.
What if there was an agency that had trained, compassionate caregiver volunteers who could help with hospice care IN our own home? An agency that would work alongside other social agencies to help our family understand and cope with our care? A group of people who believe that it takes a village to care for the dying and they actually have created that village?
What if there was a way that people could be shown the respect and compassion of a bricks and mortar hospice facility but in the comfort and familiarity of our own home?
Maybe we could call it Home Hospice Association and we could hold a walk to raise funds so that agency could train people like Infancy and Pregnancy Loss Doulas so women and families who suffer the loss of a fetus or baby do not have to figure out how to navigate that journey alone. And maybe they could have volunteers who can speak to kids in the family and help them cope with an end-of-life situation. Maybe that Home Hospice Association could acquire the calibre of experts needed to aid in the care of the dying, at no expense to the dying or their families. And what about the pets of the dying? What if they trained volunteers to help care for the pets of the dying so they aren’t taken away because they ‘add to the burden on the family’? That would be amazing.
All we would have to do is participate in their annual Walk and fundraise so they can get the work done.
Isn’t it worthwhile to participate?
We will actually be grateful for that Home Hospice Association when someone we love is dying or maybe when we’re giving our own diagnosis of a life-limiting illness.
Join us for the 2021 Moonlit Memory Walk
October 20, 2021
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