Under federal Medicare rules, at least 5% of hospice care has to be provided by volunteers.
Hospice volunteers don't need a medical background — they're called on mostly for companionship for people and caregivers at the end of life. They also offer vital respite to family members.
Mary Pleasant coordinates about 115 volunteers for VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region, serving Bennington, Rutland and Franklin counties. She said they always need more.
"For a family who's struggling, who needs to be able to get out of the house and go take a walk and know, 'Hey, you know, my volunteer is going to be here at three o'clock today, and I know that I have an hour,'" Pleasant said. "And then the patient knows, 'Hey, you know, you're the one member of the hospice team that comes in and you don't have an agenda, you're here for me and you're giving freely of your time for the next hour.'”
Anyone 16 and older who’d like to participate will need to pass a background check and take an eight hour training session, available around the state — including one May 17 in St. Albans.
“There's nothing quite as honorable as walking alongside somebody at this point in their journey. And I will tell you, every one of our volunteers say that they get way more out of it than they could ever give," Pleasant said. "And they give a lot.”
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