The Value of a Volunteer

Volunteers are a valuable part of the Del Corazon Hospice Team.  Using a holistic team approach, we at Del Corazon Hospice seek to provide not only physical comfort to each of our patients, but to also provide emotional and spiritual support through companionship and meaningful interactions. While everyone on our team exemplifies compassionate care for our patients, the volunteer plays a unique role because they visit the patient without any need to provide medical care. These visits give hospice patients and their loved ones a valuable chance to just be themselves, share stories about their lives and talk to someone who knows and cares about what they are going through. Though these visits may seem ordinary, the impact of having opportunities to gently come to terms with this journey called life can be profound. Often the bonds that develop between volunteers and patients and their loved ones become a special relationship that benefits everyone involved. Many of our volunteers at Del Corazon Hospice were once on the receiving end of this relationship so they know firsthand its unique beauty and value.

What does a volunteer do?

The primary aim of Del Corazon Hospice Volunteers is to provide companionship to the patient and/or their caregivers. Because volunteers are not family members and did not know the patient before they became ill, volunteers are able to meet the patient and family where they are presently without a desire to rescue or to change anything or to interfere with the family dynamics.

These are some of the tasks volunteers offer: