Hospice volunteers have a rare opportunity to walk alongside people in their final chapter. To provide comfort, connection, and care at end of life is a profound and meaningful gift. Anyone can volunteer, regardless of age or experience. Tasks might include reading aloud, calling patients from your couch to check in, walking a dog, writing letters, or simply sitting quietly and being present.
More than service, hospice volunteering opens a path to deeper awareness and personal growth. Many volunteers have commented that their time spent with patients leaves them feeling a deep sense of appreciation for life and its impermanence. This reminds me of a story I read recently about Bhutan, a country known as one of the happiest in the world. They attribute their wellness to the practice of reflecting on death seven times a day. Perhaps even just one hour a week volunteering will make a huge difference to you, and most certainly for the patients.
To learn more, please contact Jordan Amali, Eden Health Hospice Volunteer Coordinator at Jordan.Amali@eden-health.com or call/text (971) 339-3979. Website: Eden-Health.com
Whether at the park with my children or at a dinner party, I often find myself in conversations about one particularly taboo topic: death. Introducing myself as a death doula sparks in people a pause, a moment to reflect on their own relationship with death. While death is the only thing we know for certain, we live in a culture that avoids it. But everybody has a story.
Jordan Amali is a trained Death Doula with a master’s degree in public health. A hospice and grief work volunteer for the past decade, she is currently a Volunteer Coordinator at Eden Health and a Dying to Live Workshop Centre and Facilitator. Jordan finds her greatest joy in the simplest of activities like walking her kindergartener to school or watching her toddler delight over mud puddles.