Lopez Hospice Volunteer Training

Lopez Island Hospice and Home Support (LIHHS) is calling on Lopez residents to volunteer just a few hours a week to reach out to neighbors needing volunteer respite services.

“Our volunteers make a tremendous difference in our community,” says Joanne Bryant, Volunteer Education Chair. “Just a few hours can make a world of difference to a neighbor suffering from a short-term medical crisis or long-term illness. We hope more in our community will volunteer to help. Reaching out to a neighbor takes but a few hours; the rewards, however, last a lifetime.”

LIHHS is looking for committed volunteers to attend its upcoming 30-hour training program where participants will learn to work with care recipients and their families. You will learn skills that will enable you to provide support to the injured, temporarily or chronically ill, and the dying. With this volunteer assistance, members of the community facing personal changes in health and those with disabilities can continue to maintain their independence for as long as possible.

This year’s training session will begin Friday evening, October 22 and continue over the following three weekends. Patty Taylor Richards, Volunteer Services Supervisor at Providence Hospice of Seattle, will provide training, along with guest teaching faculty.

With more Americans living longer lives, many of us are faced with the challenge of helping a family member, neighbor, or friend who has arthritis, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s, HIV/AIDs, or other long-term health conditions. LIHHS, established in 1998 through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, seeks to help meet these challenges through the placement of volunteer caregivers in our community.

To find out more information, please call (360) 468-4446 or visit www.lihhs.org.

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