Everyone in the Circle of Care Needs Support, Including Our Volunteers

A note to Hospice and Early Care (and all) volunteers from your coordinators, written by Eileen Glover 

Hello Everyone,

Volunteers have been coming in lately to talk about the sense of helplessness and overwhelm they feel when witnessing the distress of clients who are struggling with a lack of support from social service agencies, confusing insurance programs, and overtaxed healthcare providers.

Just glance at the headlines and you will see stories about struggling social services, changes to Medicaid and Medicare, a lack of healthcare providers. We know that some volunteers are witnessing the distress and being present during the fallout of these changes, and our program coordinators are here to help.

You went through volunteer training and learned about how to be a listening presence, heard about the challenges you might witness, and learned about how the program coordinator is here to support you. But seeing what your neighbors are enduring can bring up anger, frustration, and a feeling of powerlessness. There are so many needs, and fewer and fewer resources available. 

Witnessing the suffering of others can be heavy, and we need to learn how to be present with compassion, while living with the fact that we are unable to fix broken systems or inadequate infrastructure.  We are here to serve; fixing is beyond our means.

We, your coordinators, know that these situations are difficult to witness and heavy to carry.  We are here to listen and support you. We have time and want to hear from you. Please reach out to Shari or Erica if you are feeling overwhelmed or alone in your volunteer work.

Along with our fellow Program Coordinators, we are in the process of creating an in-service on this topic and a support group for volunteers to be able to share their experiences and learn from each other. More information to come.

Please remember, we are here. We want to hear from you, and we have time. Please don’t carry this alone.

All my best,

Eileen

With Shari, Erica, and Lars