Employee Spotlight – Meet Michele Devlin, our Volunteer Program Manager
“I have the best job in the entire organization! I am surrounded by so many people who just want to show kindness and make a difference.” This is how Michele Devlin, the Volunteer Program Manager here at Hospice of Central New York and Hospice of the Finger Lakes, describes her position. She has so much regard for the amazing volunteers without whom, Hospice would be unable to run – literally.
Michele explains that our Hospice Medicare Benefit requires that, “5% of all patient care hours need to be performed by volunteers. So we have to find people willing to step into that role. These are people that decide to raise their hand, go through 18 hours of training, and be willing to give us their precious free time. Without these thoughtful and kind-hearted people stepping up to fill these roles, our Hospice wouldn’t exist.”
Michele, a lifelong Central New Yorker, came to us in 2005 with almost no knowledge of, or experience with, Hospice. She gives credit to Gail Longcore and Susan Conover, both longtime Hospice employees who instilled in her “the passion for the mission, and the confidence
to do the job.”
Michele enjoys working with the volunteers and getting to know their backgrounds, personalities, and skill sets so that when the time comes to provide a volunteer to be in the home with a patient and their family, she can choose just the right volunteer to make the difference. She takes that responsibility very seriously, saying, “I never forget that every patient is ‘somebody’s someone’ and the most important person in the world to someone who loves them.”
She praises the abilities of the volunteers she works with. “They have taught me a lot about patience, kindness, and meeting people where they are at. The volunteers have done so much to change my life view.”
Michele is always looking for motivated volunteers, from those who visit patients and families in the home to those who enjoy helping with office work. She also needs volunteers to fill specific roles, including veterans for our Veterans Program, licensed hairstylists for home visits, and Reiki practitioners at Level 2 or above. Training for in-home volunteers is presently held twice a year. “We hold trainings in Onondaga County, but if there is enough interest in Cayuga and Oswego counties, we will set up a training there,” explains Michele. “We work around their precious free time. You get to say, ‘no’ and you don’t have to feel like volunteering has become your job.”
Based on the smile we see on her face and the laughter we often hear in the halls, we can attest that Michele definitely loves her job!
To read the full Spring/Summer Newsletter, please click HERE!