Page 10 - NVNA Call to Grace 2020

Family Legacy
LESSONS IN GIVING BACK
F or Jill and Henry Tallman, giving back is a family value. Philanthropists, community leaders, and advocates for a myriad of causes, the Marshfield residents were early supporters of a non-profit hospice facility, which became the Pat Roche Hospice Home. “When I first started, the hospice home was just a dream. I got involved to help make it a reality,” remarked Jill Tallman. “So much of my perspective on giving back to my community is rooted in my parents’ philosophy. Mother and Daddy believed in the power of philanthropy and their actions were always from the heart. They valued using their resources to help advance a mission. I personally have
worked to instill this philosophy in my own daughters.”
Jill joined the Charitable Fund Board of Trustees at NVNA and Hospice simply because she thought it was the right thing to do. The Tallmans supported the Hospice Home to help see it to completion. They never imagined that NVNA and Hospice would touch their personal lives in so many ways.
Jill had been caring for her mother, Cordelia (“Corky”), at home with the help of caregivers and NVNA and Hospice nurses. When the nurse suggested that Jill’s mother was in need of the agency’s hospice services at the Pat Roche Hospice Home, Jill saw an entirely different side of the care that she had so loyally supported, now through the eyes of a daughter and caregiver.
“Non-profit home care is so important because they always have the patient’s interests at the top of their list,” said Jill. “And, the Pat Roche Hospice Home was as much for our family as it was for Mom. It was an amazing experience.”
Jill would also need visiting nurse care. An accomplished equestrian, Jill and her beloved thoroughbred, Cowboy, were involved in an accident. The two were riding at her
Jill and Henry Tallman in their home
home, Finale Farm, when a deer jumped the fence and spooked the horse. Jill sustained serious injuries, and the NVNA and Hospice clinical team was called into action.
As Jill recovered, one of NVNA and Hospice’s Occupational Therapists, Chris Gill, thought that her name sounded familiar. The two had attended college together and reunited as Chris led the physical therapy portion of Jill’s recovery. “It was so wonderful to reconnect with Jill. She was just as funny as when I knew her in the past,” said Gill. “I have been a therapist for over 30 years, and I have seen us care for multiple generations of families.” Now Jill is back in the saddle with her beloved Cowboy.
“Chris was the best. She believed in me and told me that I could just keep walking, a little farther each day. I did with her help and the thoughtful care plan of the nursing team.”
8 Call to Grace | 2020 | NVNA.org