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Creative Ways you can Support Hospice
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Press Releases
! NEWS RELEASE!
The Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area is thrilled to announce a Hope’s Place facilitator training which is set to begin August 6, 2008. Hope’s Place is HVWA’s program for grieving children and teens. This program serves any family in Central Maine who has experienced the death of a loved one. This service provided is free to families. The program also provides community outreach and education to schools, civic groups, churches and workplaces. This 30 hour training will be taught by the staff and volunteers of the Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area. Class size is limited to 16. Hope’s Place has just completed its very successful and rewarding third year of service to the community and welcomes you to call Deb Crocker, Youth Services Coordinator. For more information call 873-3615 ext. 19, email her @ dcrocker@hvwa.org - The cost is $50.00. Scholarships are available.
Hospice Garden to Help Healing, Central Maine Newspapers, May 16, 2008
Governor Baldacci proclaims April as Hospice Volunteer Month.
Learn more about how A Healing Touch: True Stories of Life, Death and Hospice evolved by reading this story by author / editor Richard Russo.
Uplifting hospice book
by Richard Russo and five more Maine writers
to be launched at April 11 event honoring hospice volunteers
Sales of A Healing Touch: True Stories of Life, Death, and Hospice
will benefit the Hospice Volunteers of the Waterville Area
READ MORE HERE
Read the article in the Morning Sentinel HERE
Waterville Hospice Volunteers open center for grieving children
This page is available online at:
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/4535545.html
May 6, 2008
PRESS RELEASE
$25,000 Capacity Building Grant from JTG Foundation allows
Hospice Volunteers Waterville to add new position
A JTG Foundation grant of $25,000 supporting end-of-life care and bereavement support services has been awarded to Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area (HVWA). The grant helps make possible the organization's efforts to increase staff capacity so to train and support additional volunteers; to provide more bereavement services; and administrative support to program staff. According to Dale Marie Clark, executive director, since 2003 HVWA has creatively utilized several experienced volunteers to assist staff with processing of referrals, client follow-up, volunteer education and office support. This approach has enabled HVWA to maintain staff hours and implement quality programming in spite of significant growth. "This model, though still effective", says Clark, "is not currently adequate to keep up with the growth we have experienced since 2006. Based on 2005 statistics and growth in program participation the first half of 2006 we anticipated 25% overall growth in services in 2006. Instead, from 1/2006 to 12/2007 we realized 97% growth in overall end-of-life and grief support referrals. This resulted in more demands on time from program staff, and increased operating costs".
In response to the increase in demand for services the organization has added the position of Programs Coordinators Assistant. Jillian Fortin, B.S. has accepted the position and as such will provide administrative support to the Volunteer, Bereavement, Education and Youth Services Coordinators. Fortin first became a member of the HVWA team in the fall of 2007 as a University of Maine intern. She is a graduate of the University of Maine, Augusta and holds a BS in Mental Health and Human Services. Fortin is a Certified Hospice Volunteer; trained as a Hope's Place facilitator and has volunteered at Camp Ray of Hope. She makes her home in Skowhegan.
Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area (HVWA) was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1980 and serves 27 communities in central Maine. HVWA's no-fee services have grown, proportionately to need, and extended to people of all ages during times of terminal illness and the grief process. Volunteers contribute more than 20,000 hours annually. HVWA's free services include non-medical support to the terminally ill and their families; specialized grief support groups for adults; grief education in the community; Hope's Place, where children and youth learn to cope with grief; and Camp Ray of Hope, a statewide weekend retreat for grieving families. Bereavement services are available to anyone who has sustained loss either through illness or unexpectedly. A lending library at the Hospice Community Center at 304 Upper Main Street is available to community members who seek resources on end-of-life and grieving. HVWA is volunteer-based and community funded. To learn more about the free services offered by HVWA call 873-3615 or www.hvwa.org. Jillian Fortin can be reached at 873-3615 x 12 or jfortin@hvwa.org.
Facing up to end-of-life choicesMaine Hospice Council aims to educate public on topic that is difficult to discuss
This page is available online at:
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/4345735.html
For Maine storytellers' project hospice experience rich with hope
By Kristen Andresen
Tuesday, April 08, 2008 - Bangor Daily News
http://bangornews.com/news/t/lifestyle.aspx?articleid=162663&zoneid=14
Maine authors contribute 'A Healing Touch' to Waterville hospice
Reception and book signing April 11
Thursday, April 3, 2008 – Capital Weekly
By Judy Yeaton
Read Full Story Here
! NEWS RELEASE! -
Hospice Volunteers launches $40,000 annual appeal
This page is available online at:
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/3753091.html
! NEWS RELEASE! -
Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area (HVWA) has been awarded a $1,000 mini-grant by United Way of Mid Maine in support of capacity building. Based on 2005 statistics and growth in program participation during the first half of 2006 Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area anticipated 25% overall growth for 2006. Instead, there was 70% growth in the number of clients served at end-of-life and 64% increase in participation in grief support services. With this dramatic growth there were more demands on volunteers, program staff, and increased operating costs related to client care such as educational materials, telephone and postage. The $1,000 United Way mini-grant will help support capacity building through enhancement of program staff and additional Hospice Volunteer trainings.
HVWA is an independent volunteer non-profit organization founded in 1980 that serves 27 communities in central Maine. HVWA promotes quality of life by: Providing non-medical support to individuals and their families at the end-of-life; support to grieving individuals; and education and support for the community regarding issues related to death and grieving. Bereavement services are available to all ages whether from a terminal illness or unexpectedly.
HVWA is located at 304 Main Street, Waterville. They are volunteer based, community funded and depend on donations from individuals, civic organizations and businesses to sustain programs. Five-hundred forty two families were served by HVWA at no charge in 2006. Volunteers donated 22,600 hours, which saved the organization $400,000. Time is donated by volunteers in many capacities such as on fundraising committees, on the board of directors, through office support and hours spent directly with clients. HVWA’s comprehensive services will be provided in 2007 on a budget of $213,000. For information about services, volunteering or to make a donation contact 873-3615 or www.hvwa.org.
! NEWS RELEASE! - (Created: Wednesday, November 15, 2006)
Hospice services create strong bond between two women (READ FULL ARTICLE HERE)
-- By John Hale
! NEWS RELEASE! - December 13, 2006
January 12, 2007
Letter to the editor: Waterville Sentinel and Kennebec Journal
Doug Harlow wrote an excellent article (Filling a Void: Hospice and VA, January 8) about the partnership between Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area (HVWA) and Togus VA Medical Center. This letter to the editor will provide additional information and clarification about the Maine Hospice VA Partnership and HVWA's role in that collaboration.
Some statistics of interest: 1,800 veterans die each day in the United States; 25% of all people who die in the United States are Veterans; 4% of those Veterans currently receive hospice care in VA Medical Centers.
The Maine Hospice VA Partnership formed in 2003 to ensure that access to excellent end-of-life care is available for all Maine Veterans and their families. The Partnership was the second initiated in the country (after Florida) and is an alliance between Togus VA Medical Center and community organizations (i.e. Hospice care providers, Maine Hospice Council and veteran service organizations).
Togus VA currently provides Hospice medical care to inpatient Veterans on their Nursing Home and Alzheimer's units and will soon open their own special Hospice Unit. Specially trained Hospice Volunteers were needed to complement their in-patient Hospice team of nurses, social workers and physicians. HVWA identified how to assist with that need and worked out an agreement with the Togus VA to train, assign and supervise Hospice Volunteers who visit Veterans within the Togus VA Medical Center. HVWA is the first agency to provide this service within Togus VA Medical Center.
Togus VA also works closely with community based Hospice care providers throughout the state to improve end-of-life care for Veterans who are living in their own homes or other facilities. As one of those community based agencies HVWA also serves Veterans, living within in our service area, in conjunction with Hospice medical care providers.
HVWA's role in the Partnership is unique in that we serve veterans in both their communities and within the Togus VA Medical Center and are the first to do so.
To learn more how you can become a Hospice Volunteer or how to help or provide support to the Maine Hospice VA Partnership visit Hospice Volunteers Waterville Area www.hvwa.org/help-hospice and the Maine VA Partnership www.mainehospicecouncil.org/hvp
Dale Marie Clark, Executive Director
Hospice Volunteers Waterville Area
207-873-3615 x 13
dmclark@hvwa.org
August 23, 2006
HOSPICE VOLUNTEERS EXPANDING TO NEWPORT
Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area is expanding its service area to include the town of Newport and is seeking volunteers. A volunteer training will start Wednesday, September 20 from 5-8:00pm through November 15 at the Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area Community Center.
The training will prepare volunteers who are interested in offering 2-4 hours a week to individuals facing a life threatening illness and their families. Support may include companionship, reading, compassionate listening, or bereavement support to family members following a death.
Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area exists to provide non-medical support to individuals and their families during the last phases of life and to loved ones throughout the grieving process. We are a volunteer based, nonprofit organization dependent on volunteers to accomplish our life-affirming mission. Our 25 mile service area, while based in Waterville, also includes: Albion, Belgrade, Belgrade Lakes, Benton, China, Clinton, Fairfield, Fairfield Center, Freedom, Hinckley, Mercer, Mt. Vernon, Newport, Oakland, Palermo, Rome, Shawmut, Sidney, Smithfield, South China, Thorndike, Unity, Vassalboro, Vienna, and Winslow
For more information and an application please contact:
Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area
304 Main Street P.O. Box 200
Waterville, ME 04903,
or call us at 873-3615, The application and class syllabus are also available online at www.HVWA.org/help-hospice. There is a $25 materials fee; scholarships are available.
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