Present for Terminally Ill

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In Hospice, our main goal is to support those with terminal illnesses to ensure they can pass comfortably without pain. One our of basic tenets is to ensure that no patient dies alone.
The common 11th Hour program or ours, the Midnight Angel program, was developed to train and bolster volunteers to be able to keep vigil and provide a comforting presence needed by patients and families in the final hours of life.
Often, patients find themselves alone either because they have no family, their family cannot make it in time, or their family simply cannot be there in the way that they need. Thus volunteers can help fill the need for compassion, concern, love, comfort and healing touch in the last hours. Activities by bedside include:

• Being a calm presence
• Talking softly or singing
• Playing soft music
• Holding hands or massaging arms
• Praying, reading inspirational text or scripture of their faith base
• Honoring cultural and faith traditions of the patient

Volunteers are scheduled in shifts, usually four-hour blocks of time, with the goal of providing a constant vigil either with volunteers, staff, family members or friends.

It is recommended that Midnight Angels have some medical experience or experience being around someone who is dying either professionally or personally.

There is a brief process to begin including an orientation about hospice and the program provided at the convenience of the volunteer. Medicare requires volunteers to have tuberculosis skin tests and drug screens, which Homestead Hospice's offers free of charge and at the convenience of the volunteer.

***No minors.