Hospice enters into 30th year of caring

An organization of volunteers that has brought comfort to many Washington County residents and families is marking its 30th anniversary this year. Down East Hospice has been providing support services to the terminally ill and their families, as well as to those people who are experiencing grief.
"As we move through our 30th year of hospice volunteer care, we continue to reach out for funds, for new ideas and for new volunteers," points out long-time director Barbara Barnett. "Let us know if your church, organization, club or workplace would like us to come and talk about what Down East Hospice volunteers do, meet current volunteers and hear what hospice families have to say."
There is no charge to clients, and all costs are met by memberships, donations, grants and fundraisers.
"We really need grant writers. We are stretched very thin in a very poor area," stresses Barnett. "We've been very fortunate that both hospitals give us space and phones and use of a classroom for our free workshops."
Since 1981, Down East Hospice has grown from servicing six to nine clients a month to at least 20 to 25 families, according to Barnett. "We're more visible, and we get more referrals now. We also have a bereavement counselor working 15 hours a week."
"We provide volunteers for both hospitals, nursing homes in the county, into homes and sometimes to schools," she says. "We're a source of information, and we encourage hospice clients to have an open dialogue with whomever their caregiver is. We provide a caring safe environment, and everything that clients and their family members say will remain confidential."

Volunteers share experiences
Hope Pratt of Roque Bluffs is one of the longest-serving Down East Hospice volunteers. She was a member of the volunteer class of 1996. "I come from a different background than the rest," she explains. "I was a hospice social worker for 20 years in Bucks County, Pennsylvania."
Because she "loved doing that work," Pratt wanted to help Down East Hospice clients after she retired to Maine. "I appreciate people letting me into their homes where I get to know them in their environment C where they're in control, and it's more comfortable for them. I'm very quiet and give them a chance to tell me what they need."
"I can't begin to tell you now many clients I've had over the years," she points out. "Sometimes life intrudes, and I've had to stop and start again."
Pratt says being a hospice volunteer is not as frightening as people think. "All they have to do is be a quiet soul in the presence of the family," she says. "Stay quiet and listen."
Pratt says of Barbara Barnett, whom she has known since they trained together 15 years ago, "We wouldn't be as good as we are without Barbara. We wouldn't be as far-reaching into homes without Barbara. She's a very caring, compassionate soul that wants to do the best for everyone. She's a fantastic leader and teacher."
Referring to the hospice training sessions developed by Barnett, Pratt notes, "They encompass life as well as death. If you take one of Barbara's courses, you'll learn about yourself even if you're not going to be a volunteer."
Suzanne McCurdy of Lubec is marking her 16th year volunteering for Down East Hospice and says she drove 2,300 miles as a volunteer one year. "I've had 60 clients over the years. Each one has been different in their outlook on dying and life and how they accepted the diagnosis. I've learned more about living, not dying, from them."
One of McCurdy's clients is Canadian. "The distance was too great for Hospice of Charlotte County, so I visit her on Campobello. Fifteen years ago she was diagnosed with three months to live, but there have been many medical advances in cancer care, and that gives her hope."
"I've received many letters and calls from family members who have appreciated what a hospice volunteer can do, and that helps keep me going," points out McCurdy. "But I enjoy what I'm doing. This culture -- the country -- sort of ignores the fact that people are going to die. Children are shuffled off to the side. So it's so heartwarming for me to see that children are not fearful of death."
William "Deke" Talbot of Machias is one of the few men who are working as a volunteer for Down East Hospice. "This is my fourth year. It's been very fulfilling for me to do this."
"I didn't come in with preconceptions," he points out. "Every story is different. I have had one client for almost three years. This particular gentleman has congestive heart failure, so he tends to get chronic pneumonia or something else that could cause death, and he doesn't have a lot of family around. A factor in hospice is not looking at the clock. Since he has become a long-term client, I don't see him as frequently as I did -- maybe once a week or twice a month -- but I stay in contact with him."
"I have a busy law practice and a high school junior at home," adds Talbot. "So it tends to be afternoons when I can get away that I'll visit him. I'm not offering respite, so it's not so critical that I be there more often."
Patti Craig of Eastport has been a hospice volunteer since 2001 and has served many clients. "I mostly go by their schedules. We visit as often as we can, even if they don't call," she says. "That's what we do. We want to help the client and family. Wherever they are, whether it's at home or in the nursing home, we follow."
"It's very fulfilling," adds Craig. "We get great feedback."
"These families are so appreciative, and you make a bond with them. Their thanks is very overwhelming."
"I hope to do it as long as I can," says Craig of hospice work. "Since losing Mom [Beatrice Cummings], I have an inkling of how hard it is to lose someone you love."
Craig describes Down East Hospice director Barbara Barnett as "an awesome person. She always wants to know how your day went, and she's really easy to work with. Barbara is very kind and makes sure that I'm doing okay, too."
The loss of close family members is what drew June Archer-Gillespie to Down East Hospice, where she works as the bereavement counselor. "When I lost my father and my sister, I had no one to help me through my grief. I want to help other people heal and be okay," explains Archer-Gillespie, who had retired from a local radio station. "I knew I needed to do something different with my life."
She had studied behavioral science, geared toward geriatrics, for two years in college, so a 2006 Down East Hospice advertisement for a bereavement counselor caught her eye. Archer-Gillespie applied for the position and was hired.
"They left me alone and let me create my own program," she says of the Down East Hospice board and director. "It's been an amazing journey for me. I feel blessed that people allow me to be with them during a sensitive and private moment in their lives. I am humbled that I can be involved in that, and it's changed my life completely. I've developed a different attitude toward dying."
"I keep in touch with families for a year after a hospice client had died," notes Archer-Gillespie. "I have grief material which is given to spouses and children."
Archer-Gillespie has been working with Barbara Barnett for a long time, and she says of the relationship, "We're in tune with each other. I couldn't do my job without Barbara."
Georgiana Kendall of Perry was a participant in the six-week bereavement program that Archer-Gillespie facilitated, and Kendall wrote, "The program was definitely instrumental in moving me through my pain and loss in a way that not only felt right but sincerely healed me from the inside out. I cannot tell you how invaluable of a service you provide to Washington County."
The sessions for new volunteers are given every autumn, but Barnett would gladly hold an earlier one this year if there are enough people interested in taking the course. Among the topics covered in the 20- to 30-hour training are: the background of hospice; funeral and cremation information; family dynamics; spirituality; last stages of dying; pain and symptom management; stress management; personal death awareness; grief, loss and transition; ethical issues at end of life; Medicare hospice/advance directives; and universal precautions.
Anyone wishing to learn more about Down East Hospice services or who would like to make a financial donation should call 454-7521, extension 126, or e-mail <downeasthospice@yahoo.com>.