Community members to gather to support hospice care Sunday
By Jessica Shaw
Among the 311 residents who died in Rockbridge County last year, 125 received services from the Rockbridge Area Hospice.
That’s 40 percent, well above the national average of about 33 percent of Americans now getting hospice care in their final days.
Sunday at 2 p.m., community members will gather at Hopkins Green for the start of the 2007 “Hospice Hustle,” a 5K foot race to benefit Rockbridge Area Hospice. The event, now in its 11th year, will include music by the Maury River Boys and free barbecue.
Money raised is for patients unable to pay for hospice care.
“We want to always ensure that we have services, medications, equipment that they might need to make them comfortable,” said Mickey Watkins, coordinator for volunteers and social work.
The number of patients served has doubled in five years, said Hospice Director Judy Ramsey. This year’s fundraising goal is $15,000, almost $3,000 more than the event made last year. Ramsey said local colleges are starting to get involved, and the organization is now making a big push for more student involvement.
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The Hospice Hustle raises money for equipment like that pictured to treat hospice patients. Photo by Jessica Shaw |
“The whole county is tremendously supportive,” Watkins said.
With 28 employees and 100 volunteers, the local hospice provides home care for people in the last stages of life. The volunteers perform a variety of tasks, from answering phones in the hospice office to weeding a patient’s garden. Ramsey said the hospice tries to match the patient’s needs with the volunteer’s expertise.
“It’s great, because it gives the family a break, and it gives the patient some company,” Ramsey said.
The nonprofit receives more than 90 percent of its funding from Medicare and Medicaid, but its operating budget of $35,000 requires that most of the other 10 percent come from fundraisers.
It began small. Rockbridge Area Hospice was just an experiment in 1984, said board member and founder Helen Hodges. She and three other local women identified a need in Rockbridge County for hospice services, and they formed a group to start a board.
“We knew we couldn't do it by ourselves,” Hodges said.
The hospice served its first patient in February 1984, but without funding. It was not until months later that it received a grant from R. E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church to pay a part-time director. The position took some of the burden off Hodges, who at the time was playing multiple roles.
Hodges said the hospice had difficulty at first recruiting patients. Because patients are often referred to hospice care by doctors, she said, it was important to establish a reputation that medical professionals could respect and feel comfortable recommending. That took time.
She said people sometimes associate hospice with poverty and consider it a hand-out. But it is really for all people, and with time, the stigma faded, Hodges said.
Families also have difficulty accepting that their loved one is dying, said Watkins. Many times that stands in the way of requesting services.
“It’s human nature,” Watkins said. “People would really like to think that there is a life ring out there with their name on it .… People really give us a gift by letting us come in at that critical time.”
Ramsey said that the area hospice often does not receive referrals in time to have an impact on the patient’s life. She wishes people would enlist help sooner so hospice care could make a bigger difference.
“National statistics show that patients in hospice live a month longer,” she said.
Last March, the hospice staff moved from a small office building downtown into a new facility on Myers Street, in a residential area near Waddell Elementary School. It is raising capital money, separate from the Hustle, to pay for the building space and renovations. Ramsey said it needs $75,000 more to reach its goal.
Ramsey said the new facility is more inviting and accessible. She also said it supports a goal of the hospice for the family of a hospice patient to “feel more open about stopping by and talking to us.”
The new two-story building has comfortable office space and ample parking. Ramsey said she hopes the new building will provide this welcoming environment and space to conduct volunteer training sessions and bereavement services with clergy.
“I believe that everyone has a story,” Ramsey said. “When they reach that time in their life, they’re ready to share it with someone.”
Runners and walkers may register for the event online at www.rockbridgeareahospice.org or on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Hopkins Green. The cost is $15 for adults and $10 for students.
Rockbridge Area Hospice
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Brian Richardson
Reporting supervisors:
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd