The student councils of three area elementary schools, Alamo, Washington, and Dix Street, provided the holiday cookies and packaged them for delivery. This year 23 volunteer drivers shared their time to deliver over 200 trays of holiday cookies to patient families that we now serve and those we have served in the past year. We […]
A Homeless Man Comes Home for Christmas
This is how our Wings Home provided a place for reunion between a homeless man and his family during their last Christmas together. He had called from a hospital in Ohio having been told he would soon die. His sister from Allegan went with her husband to pick him up in their own vehicle, not […]
Loveliness Enhanced by Debilitating Disease
The photos near her bed at the skilled nursing facility show her as robust. She was lean with sinewy muscles during her first fifty-five years. Her character was firm, too. The honor and integrity of her family yielded the attractiveness of a trustworthy individual. Her long dark mane of hair framed eyes alive with love […]
Love On A King Size Bed
A family gathers The yard was packed with cars as I pulled into the driveway. A few grand-kids were gathered in a circle out in the yard having a smoke, perhaps relieving the stress of the moment. A loved one lay dying inside. When a family experiences this kind of grief, they come up against […]
Fundraising IS a Profession!
Professional Fundraising A friend of mine has been a professional fundraiser for over 30 years. She has worked for many nonprofits raising millions of dollars. When she got her first fundraising job, her father said to her “They PAY you to do this?!!” Yes, they paid her. It is a profession. There are university degrees […]
My Experience as a Volunteer at Wings Home
Giving Back I had often thought because I had been blessed with the wonderful support of Wings of Hope Hospice in the past for both my Dad and Mom in their final days that I would like to volunteer at Wings Home some day and return the favor for the blessings my family had received. Late […]
Importance of Memorial Gatherings
As a chaplain, I often encounter well-intentioned people who plan no gathering for family and friends after death occurs. A dying person may say, “Don’t go to any trouble or expense for me.” I have, however, observed the benefit for those who gather in supportive community. 1. ENCOURAGEMENT When we process a death together, we […]
The Final Voice
Introduction As the generation of people who are faced with decisions for our parents, we are so very many times their final voice. We are a society that plans for almost all changes in life. We plan for graduation, our wedding, the birth of a baby, college and retirement yet most of us avoid planning […]
Hospice Volunteer – Bereavement
I have been a hospice volunteer in bereavement for Wings of Hope Hospice for 16 years. This ‘job’ came about as a way for me to give back after I had been helped through a rough patch myself. Open Door Grief Support Policy I am very proud to be associated with Wings and am proudest […]
Being a Healing Listener
Healing Listening ‘Healing listening’, a term used by both James Miller and Paul Feider in their writing and their work with individuals who are grieving, is a priceless gift you can give someone who has experienced a loss. Regardless of the type of loss, the person experiencing it feels pain, and that pain must be […]