Hospice of North Iowa Volunteer Opportunities

A program as comprehensive as Hospice of North Iowa would not be feasible without trained volunteers. Hospice volunteers provide support, companionship and friendship to the patient and family.

What do Hospice volunteers do? Hospice volunteers can choose the type of work they want!

• Patient/family care volunteers spend time with patients and their families, offering support and encouragement. These volunteers help with household errands, special family activities or they may simply listen sympathetically to patient/family concerns and feelings. Volunteers can also provide assistance in the Muse-Norris Inpatient Unit.
• Office volunteers assist with mailings and general clerical work, greeting visitors and answering the telephone..
• Bereavement volunteers visit the family after the patient has died. Volunteers provide support as the family processes their grief.

Who can become a Hospice volunteer?
Anyone who wants to be a part of the team that brings Hospice's "special kind of caring" to the people of North Iowa. Every volunteer brings a unique combination of interests, experience and talents to the Hospice program. Hospice volunteering can be scheduled in your free time. Whatever your talents, interests and skills, Hospice has a need you can fill.

How do I become a Hospice volunteer?
The Hospice volunteer begins with a volunteer training program that provides background information to help volunteers understand the needs of patients and families. Training sessions are also designed to help volunteers process their own feelings and attitudes toward death and loss.

When I first decided to become a volunteer for Hospice, I thought about what I could do and give. Never did I imagine the feelings and giving I would receive.

Having a Hospice volunteer is a marvelous experience. They provide wonderful experience. I just can't believe it. I don't know what I would have done without Hospice.

As a volunteer you give of yourself - your time, your skills or interests and your personality. But in return you get to know another human being, and that enriches your own life.