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★ ★ ★ Salute to ★
★
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★ ★ Volunteers ★ ★

Importance of Volunteers to Catholic Hospice
VITAS HEALTHCARE OF BROWARD COUNTY

“I was hungry and you gave me to eat,
Joyce Angel
thirsty and you gave me to drink.”
The appropriately named Joyce Angel devoted more -The Beatitudes
than 765 hours to performing volunteer work on behalf
of VITAS Healthcare patients in 2017. “I function as I heard a woman’s voice near my bedside, “I’m going to
kind of a liaison between patients and families, and the get you a warm blanket.” The woman returned and cov-
medical staff,” Angel says. “I’m called to it.” ered me from my chin down to my toes and wiped the
A former New York City school teacher who has a tears from my eyes. I asked her, “What is your name?” She
degree in counseling psychology, Angel performed answered, “Oh I’m just a volunteer ... ” As she was walk-
VITAS volunteer work from 1997 till 1999, and then ing away, I called out, “Wait! Please, I need to know your
came back at it again in 2015. “It’s kind of my way of giv- name so I can thank you properly when I am better … ”
ing back,” Angel says of her work with sick patients and She patted my foot gently, smiled back at me, and contin- BY RITA KATHALYNAS
their families. “I also kind of provide a bit of a diversion, if you will, to patients’ fam- ued walking on her way.
ilies.” As I begin this writing recalling my own first experience with a Healthcare Volunteer,
Volunteer Manager Esther Cohen says “Joyce is a true angel. Examples of her ded- it is difficult to choose the exact words which adequately describe the sacred services
ication are the hours she devoted to our patients by providing comfort and friendly volunteers render to Catholic Hospice patients and families. So, where my words might
visits, greeting and welcoming families, and spending time with the patient in the fail, it is my hope that all volunteers know their unselfish service is invaluable.
absence of family.” Catholic Hospice volunteers become the extra heartbeat every patient and caregiver
deserves. This heartbeat exists outside the medical journals and is hard to describe.
But, there is an unmistakable response to its rhythm of unselfish love and compassion.
Charles Silverstein
Patients who can no longer communicate may smile after a volunteer sings to them
or simply holds their hand.
Every Saturday and Sunday at 4:55 a.m., Charles Grief stricken children who were once inconsolable begin to heal with the support
Silverstein eases his car onto the parking lot of VITAS of Cabin Buddies, through Camp Erin Bereavement volunteers.
Healthcare’s main Ft. Lauderdale office. Then the 71- Pet Peace of Mind offers volunteer assistance to patients and caregivers who are no
year-old VITAS volunteer heads inside and makes a bee- longer able to care for their beloved pets.
line for the nurses’ supply room where Silverstein works Teens looking for community service hours are welcomed to support administrative
from 5 a.m. till at least 10 a.m., ensuring that adequate needs.
levels of latex gloves, adult diapers and other materials We need you, whatever your time and talents may be, please consider being the
are on-hand. “extra heartbeat” in the life of a patient and family.
Silverstein has been doing this for 18 years, and also
spends one day per week doing administrative work at a Rita Kathalynas is Director of Professional Services, Catholic Hospice. For volunteer infor-
VITAS in-patient unit in Sunrise. The three-day work week embraced by the retiree mation, contact Lourdes Iglesias, Volunteer Manager, at (305) 301-7503.
enabled him to amass 576 volunteer hours in 2017.
An avid square dancer who lived in Chicago before moving to South Florida rough-
ly 40 years ago, Silverstein says he’s shooting for 20 years of VITAS volunteer service.
Treasured friendships forged with VITAS staffers are what keep Silverstein coming
back, he says.

VITAS HEALTHCARE OF PALM BEACH COUNTY

Steve Calderon

Steve Calderon, 72, has a serious soft spot for veter-
ans. Hardly surprising, given that the retired letter carri-
er entrusted his life to a handful of Army colleagues
when they ran reconnaissance missions behind enemy
lines in Vietnam.
“I wanted to give back,” Calderon says of the VITAS
volunteer work he’s been doing since April 2017 with
vets receiving VITAS hospice care in Palm Beach County.
“You’re giving an understanding that there is someone
who cares about them, that they’re not forgotten. They
open up more to another veteran, because it’s known that many veterans do not trust
the civilian population.
“All my guys have been in assisted living facilities,” says Calderon, a married father
of two. “It has been both a rewarding experience and an eye-opener. My experience
as a VITAS hospice volunteer has given me balance in my life.”

Sheila Hyman

Sheila Hyman initially encountered VITAS when her
loved one was a VITAS patient. Within months after her
loved one passed away in 2016, Sheila became a VITAS
volunteer.
“It has been something I had to do to pay back,
because VITAS really did take care of us”, Hyman says.
“It was so important that I give back to the organization.
It gave me a feeling of security, because the nurse who
came to visit us and the aide who came to help bathe and
the chaplain were just the nicest, most caring people.”
These days Hyman works with VITAS every Tuesday as a Telephone Assurance
Program (TAP) volunteer. “I speak with patients and/or their family members,”
Hyman says. “I tell them, `This is just a courtesy call, but I’d like to know if you need
anything, or if you’d like to talk about something?’
“I’m volunteering because it’s pleasurable to me,” Hyman observes.

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