We Honor Veterans Program

The role of the Hospice Veteran Volunteer is to honor our veteran patients at end of life by delivering and presenting the patient and their families with a custom framed certificate of merit, and a United States flag pin in recognition of their service, an actual star from a US Flag that has been retired, along with a card from Hospice thanking the veteran for their service. The Veteran Volunteer will also deliver a packet of helpful information regarding Veteran Administration benefits for veterans and their families at end of life. The Hospice Veteran Volunteer is provided with all the necessary information and training to provide this service. Hospice Veteran Volunteers must complete required paperwork and attend a 4-hour training program, which will provide the veteran volunteer with confidence and assurance to honor and support our veteran patients at end of life.

Following are the training requirements and role descriptions for Veteran Honoring Ceremony Volunteers and Veteran Family Care Giver Volunteers. We work with each volunteer to help find the right role and time commitment that works for them. Visits can be arranged to accommodate varied schedules and work around your precious free time.

Trainings can be held in the Hospice offices in Liverpool, or we are happy to come to your institution/organization for trainings. The Hospice Volunteer Coordinators present the training sessions, walk volunteers through all the required paperwork and are available for on-going support/education for all our volunteers.

    Honoring Ceremony, Veteran Volunteer:

This volunteer would perform a short honoring ceremony at a veteran’s home. The ceremony would involve presenting a certificate, star from an American Flag and either giving the pin to the patient or attaching the pin on the shirt of the veteran (depending on the preference/comfort of the volunteer/patient/family). This ceremony could potentially be performed in pairs with another volunteer. A brief script will be provided to the volunteer for use in the ceremony.

A 3-4-hour training and required paperwork must be completed.

The training topics covered are:

• How Hospice Works
• Intro to Death & Dying
• Communication/Listening skills
• Veterans at End-of-life
• How to Document the Visit
• Mandatory Information for Hospice Volunteers
• Self-care for the Hospice Volunteer

Family Care Giver, Veteran Volunteer:

Family Care Giver (FCG) volunteers visit patients and families in their homes. FCG Veteran volunteers can choose to be assigned to only visit veterans, or can visit other patients in the community.

Visits may be for companionship for the patient or caregiver, which might include activities like playing cards, reminiscing about their life, or even just watching TV together. Some volunteers visit for respite, which is simply being a safe presence in the home in order to give the caregiver time to run errands or perform daily tasks. Veteran Volunteers may also make visit to veterans on Veteran’s day or Memorial Day. The volunteers comfort level is always taken into consideration and it is okay to refuse an assignment for any reason. We will work with you to make your volunteering experience as comfortable as possible.

An FCG Veteran Volunteer needs to complete training, as well as required paperwork.

Some of the training topics covered are:

• How Hospice Works
• Death & Dying, including Family Dynamics, Grief and Spirituality
• Communication/Listening skills, including keeping good boundaries
• Dementia & Alzheimer’s
• Veterans at End-of-life
• How to Document Visits
• Mandatory Information for Hospice Volunteers
• Self-care for the Hospice Volunteer