Congratulations to Ben Rosenberg, recipient of the Youth Volunteer Award at this year’s Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards celebration!

Ben is a high school junior who makes time to volunteer with Alive Hospice. More about Ben:

Despite his youth, high school junior Ben Rosenberg demonstrates an uncommon maturity and reverence for the end of life, an impressive understanding of hospice, and an inspiring attentiveness to the needs of the dying. As an Alive Hospice volunteer, Ben gives his time, presence, and service for the benefit of terminally ill patients.

In 2012, Ben formed a club at his high school to grant special wishes to terminally ill patients as part of The DreamCatchers Foundation. The first wish Ben and the club fulfilled restored something to a patient’s life that was sorely missing. Mr. Raymond Hollars played the guitar since the age of 12, but in his later years he found his prized guitar was too heavy for him to lift. Within days, Ben and his fellow club members surprised Mr. Hollars with a new, lighter guitar. Just like that, music was restored to his life.

“I played it as soon as I got it,” Mr. Hollars said. “I just love music.” Mr. Hollars even asked Ben to sign the guitar, which he kept close at hand until his death in November.

No one should have to face the end of life alone, and volunteers like Ben give a gift many of us take for granted while we’re healthy: the joy of company and conversation. Having someone to talk to – especially a warm, personable, and compassionate person like Ben – can go a long way in lifting patients’ spirits. Ben is an example not only to his peers, but to all of us.

Click here for photos from the 2013 Strobel Volunteer Awards.

This month, Alive Hospice presented a Heart of Hospice Award to Cannon County’s Dr. James R. Spurlock. The Heart of Hospice Awards are given for compassion, kindness, patient/family advocacy and an in-depth understanding of end-of-life care.

Pictured: Alive Hospice’s Reba McBride presents the Heart of Hospice Award to Dr. Spurlock and staff at Mountain View Medical Family Practice in Woodbury.

Alive Hospice is getting ready for a summer to remember with Camp Forget-Me-Not and Camp Evergreen!

These summer day camps were created especially for children and teens (ages 6-14) who have lost loved ones. Together with grief counselors and volunteers, each child participates in age-appropriate group activities with others who know what it’s like to lose someone. There’s also plenty of fun involved because it’s important for kids to be kids, too!

Camp Forget-Me-Not is coming up June 5-7 in Murfreesboro. Registration will continue through May 28 or until the camp is full. To register or for more information, call 615-346-8680.

Camp Evergreen will be held June 20-22 in White Bluff (with transportation provided to and from camp via charter bus, leaving from Alive Hospice’s Nashville office each morning). Registration will continue through June 12 or until the camp is full. To register or for more information, call 615-963-4732.

As National Hospice and Palliative Care Month draws to a close, we offer a very heartwarming story about an Alive Hospice patient and his family:

Alive Hospice caregivers usually see Murfreesboro resident James Zielinski at his home. But this week, he made a surprise visit to see them at the team’s office with a heartfelt message: “Thank you.”

Mr. Zielinski, 44, has received care from Alive Hospice since August. On Nov. 28, Zielinski and family members presented certificates of appreciation to their hospice team for the care and support they have received.

He gave plenty of hugs, too.

“They deserved it for the help they’ve been giving me,” Zielinski said afterward. “They’re great. All of them.”

Hospice care provides comfort and support for terminally ill patients and family members. It’s specialized care with a team that includes physicians, nurses, hospice aides, social workers and chaplains. Their goal is to maximize quality of life during the last months of life through pain and symptom management and emotional and spiritual support.

Zielinski’s sister, Sheila LaMountain, said it was important for the Alive Hospice caregivers to know “while he’s walking and talking and able to smile and laugh that it’s because of them.”

“We love you so much,” LaMountain told the team, whom she described as “family.”

Alive Hospice’s Murfreesboro team provides care in patients’ homes, at hospitals and other care facilities in Rutherford, Bedford, Cannon, Coffee and DeKalb counties. Nationwide, an estimated 1.65 million patients and families benefited from hospice care in 2011, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.

And while many people believe that hospice is for the last few days of life, in reality, hospice care is for the last six months of life.

“We feel such appreciation and gratitude to Mr. Zielinski and his family for the honor of coming into their home and being a part of their family,” said Alive Hospice Home Care Administrator Leslie Baker. “The circumstances that bring people together aren’t always the easiest, but we’re here to make life as easy as possible for them during this most precious, sacred time.”

Alive Hospice is privileged to provide care for patients and families in Middle Tennessee. If we can be of service to your family, please contact us at 615-327-1085 or 800-327-1085.

Just in time for the holidays, Alive Hospice’s annual All Things Beaded & Beyond craft sale is coming back on Tuesday, December 4!

The sale is open to the public and will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Alive Hospice’s administrative office, located at 1718 Patterson St. (near downtown Nashville). Call 615-327-1085 for more information.

Merchandise will include hand-crafted items provided by Alive Hospice employees, volunteers and community artisans. Items vary from year to year, but the sale typically features jewelry, original art, photography, greeting cards, seasonal items and much more.

All purchases will benefit Hospice West Gauteng in Krugersdorp, South Africa. Because there is no governmental or insurance reimbursement for hospice care in South Africa, Hospice West Gauteng relies soley on donations and grants to fund its services. By purchasing items at this sale right here in Middle Tennessee, you can make a difference half way around the world by helping others know the comfort of hospice.

Those who contribute items to be sold at All Things Beaded & Beyond donate a minimum of 25% of their sales to our Hospice West Gauteng. Last year, we raised $2,188.65 for our sister hospice!

Barbara Crawford, administrator of Hospice West Gauteng, shared the following:

“It is great to know we have your support. Last year the money you sent [from the sale] went towards an Orphans & Vulnerable Children’s programme.  Please thank the crafters and everyone that was involved with the project. We are truly grateful for this wonderful donation.”

 Please join us on December 4!

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean helped Alive Hospice celebrate National Hospice and Palliative Care Month this week with a proclamation honoring hospice care and the caregivers who provide it. Mayor Dean presented the proclamation to Alive Hospice representatives at the Metro Courthouse.

“Nashville has a proud history of a high-quality health care system, and Alive Hospice is an important part of that network,” Mayor Dean said. “Alive Hospice was the first hospice program in Nashville and one of the first in the entire country. Over the years, Nashvillians have come to depend on Alive Hospice for providing care for thousands of terminally ill patients, their families and those who have lost loved ones.”

  The proclamation notes that:

• Hospice caregivers provide comfort to patients facing life-threatening illnesses and a limited life expectancy
• When curative treatments are no longer effective, hospice caregivers enhance quality of life through pain and symptom management as well as emotional and spiritual support
• Because a terminal illness affects not only patients, but loved ones as well, family members of hospice patients also benefit from the emotional and spiritual support given by hospice caregivers

Pictured: Alive Hospice Community Outreach Coordinator Keith King, Chaplain Khette Cox, Chief Nursing Officer/Chief Operating Office Barbara Brennan, President and CEO Anna-Gene O’Neal, Mayor Dean, Administrator of Home Hospice Care Leslie Baker, Administrator of Inpatient Hospice Care Darlene Rutledge, Media Relations Coordinator Jared Porter, Nurse Lisa Graham and Hospice Aide Esther Eriamiatoe. (Photo by Gary Layda, Metro Photographer)

Today is Alive Hospice’s birthday! This organization was founded in Middle Tennessee on Nov. 14, 1975. Alive Hospice was one of the nation’s first hospice providers, founded only one year after the first United States hospice was established in Connecticut.

Happy birthday to Alive Hospice!