Our region’s only non-profit, community-based hospice is looking for volunteers to bring smiles to their patients’ faces.
The holiday season is a wonderful time of year to show some extra love to members of the community who need it most. But for organizations like Good Samaritan Hospice, the support of volunteers year-round is essential to their ability to continue providing high caliber care and support to patients and their families as they navigate through each stage of the end-of-life process.
Scotti Hartman, Vice President of Business Development, says that since their founding 30 years ago, Good Sam has steadfastly remained true to their mission of meeting and responding to the advanced illness needs of the communities they serve. “Because we are independent and unrestrained by a larger healthcare system,” says Hartman, “we are able to do [so] quickly and nimbly.”
Good Samaritan has also continued to grow to better meet the needs of their patients in both the Roanoke and New River Valleys as well as those in surrounding areas. In 2020, they integrated a palliative care program into their service offerings. They are also in the process of constructing their Center for Caring – Southwest Virginia’s first free-standing hospice house – set to open in 2024.
Hartman says that it’s their day-to-day care approach that sets Good Samaritan apart from other hospice organizations. “We employ a full-time Medical Director, Dr. Jennifer Easterday, who is board certified in hospice and palliative medicine. By having her as a team member, we are able to have physician input and orders immediately.” Good Sam is also unique in that they offer bereavement care for families for over a year after their loved one passes.
Kim Shelor is just one of over 100 Good Sam volunteers, and her involvement with the organization all started when her family was in need of help themselves.
“Good Samaritan has taken care of three parents [Kim’s mother-in-law, father and mother], and … I wanted to volunteer to just, in some small way, be able to give back to them and help others the way they have helped my family,” she says. “There’s just not enough words to describe how valuable [Good Sam and the members of their care team] are to someone’s life if you let them in.”
While Shelor visits directly with patients and their families, there are countless other ways for members of the community to get involved. “I go in facilities and homes, but some volunteers will bake birthday cakes [for patients], some will knit and crochet lap blankets or shawls, some volunteers help in the office. There is something for everybody,” she asserts.
“I think [during the holidays], people think more about giving, and they do and give more,” says Shelor, but at Good Samaritan, “you can volunteer and give us your time and talents year-round, not just at Christmastime. People need that extra love year-round.”
Learn more about Good Sam’s dedication to excellence in end-of-life care on their website at goodsam.care. For more information about how to become a volunteer, send an email to volunteer@goodsam.care or give them a call at (540)-776-0198. No previous volunteer experience is necessary.
