The volunteer bereavement team consisting of Evelyn Allen, Valerie Singletary, Laurie Hilburn and Gloria Jones had 624 volunteer hours in 2022 of providing comfort and compassion to hundreds of families in our service area who were coping with the loss of a loved one.
Photo courtesy of Scotland Health Care System
LAURINBURG — The Scotland Regional Hospice bereavement team members are the unsung heroes of hospice care. Often unseen by most staff, patients and families throughout the hospice care and bereavement process provided by the organization, the volunteer bereavement team consisting of Evelyn Allen, Laurie Hilburn, Gloria Jones, and Valerie Singletary, had 624 volunteer hours in 2022 of providing comfort and compassion to hundreds of families in our service area who were coping with the loss of a loved one. Since then, the team has welcomed two new members: Tracey Locklear and Linda Locklear.
Unlike many volunteer opportunities, all patient care and family support volunteers go through the same onboarding process as a paid staff member at Scotland Regional Hospice. Bereavement volunteers participate in 12 additional hours of education on top of that.
“These volunteers are not just a benefit to the organization, but serve as an integral part of the family and caregiver support services,” explained Scotland Regional Hospice volunteer coordinator Bunny Hasty. “They have responsibilities including documenting the coping process of bereaved families and making referrals for additional services for those struggling with the grief process. Their documentation is required for our organization to remain compliant with Medicare as well as ACHC and other accreditation agencies – and they never fail us with that responsibility.”
The majority of their work is done by phone. The team is responsible for following up with bereaved families for 13 months following the death of their loved one. The organization receives numerous compliments from families who not only appreciate the calls, but even look forward to them. According to Hasty, the volunteers have “impeccable social skills” making them easy to talk to and bond with. This helps bereaved families feel comfortable discussing loss and aids in the coping process.
In addition to providing grief support, the bereavement volunteer team also serves as part of patient support services. The team assists in making “tuck-in calls”. Tuck-in calls are made each week to hospice patients receiving in-home care. The purpose these calls is to check with the patients prior to a weekend or holiday to see if there are any supply needs or concerns. When combining bereavement and tuck-in calls, the four volunteers made 2,264 calls for Scotland Regional Hospice in 2022.
However, not all of their work is done via the phone. They also help with other grief support services such as work at the annual candlelight memorial service – when Scotland Regional Hospice honors all of those who passed away under its care during the last year.
These volunteers are also actively involved in the organization’s fundraising efforts. They help with the annual golf tournament (which raises approx. $130,000/year for hospice care) and the annual Christmas ornament fundraiser. They also provide many hours of clerical assistance around the office and have even assisted with activities such as food preparation and groundskeeping.
“This is an amazing group of ladies who work behind the scenes to help people going through the most difficult time in their lives,” Hasty shared. “Because most of their work is phone-based, their efforts and accomplishments often go unnoticed. Many of our patients, families, and even staff members have benefited significantly from their service without ever seeing their faces. They are hospice heroes.”