How you can aid Fox Valley Volunteer Hospice

Fox Valley Volunteer Hospice, a community-based, nonprofit organization dedicated to serving those with life-threatening illnesses and the bereaved, is in need of volunteers to serve clients in the Fox Valley area.

Volunteers are needed for patient care and bereavement; Spanish-speaking volunteers are especially needed. Interested parties must contact the agency by Wednesday, Aug. 17, to participate in the fall training program.

Patient care volunteers work with hospice patients and their families to help ease the burden, providing companionship and emotional, social and spiritual support. Patient care volunteers are part of a team that includes nurses, social workers, chaplains and bereavement counselors.

Bereavement volunteers help those who have lost loved ones cope with the pain of grief and help put control back into their lives. It designs an individual care program for bereaved clients that is managed by a licensed clinician and implemented by the bereavement volunteer.

Fox Valley Volunteer Hospice provides an extensive, ongoing training program for both patient care and bereavement volunteers, with access to trained professionals.

“Volunteers are a vibrant and integral part of FVVH. Our volunteers are out in the community, working with those with life-threatening illnesses and their families, or with the bereaved, following the death of a loved one,” said Elise C. Wall, manager of volunteer services.

“Through training and support, we give our volunteers the tools they need to help their clients, and many continue to work with Fox Valley Volunteer Hospice for years.”

Fox Valley Volunteer Hospice serves Kane and Kendall counties and parts of DuPage, Cook and McHenry counties. In addition to one-on-one support for those with life-threatening illnesses and the bereaved, the agency also offers medical equipment loans, adult and children's grief support groups, community education on end-of-life care and grief, and a community lending library. All services are free.

For details on volunteering, call Elise Wall at (630) 232-2233, ext. 219, email ewall@fvvh.org or visit [URL]www.fvvh.org;http://www.fvvh.org[URL].[/URL]