PORT ANGELES —After 33 years of service to families in the final weeks or months of the lives of their loved ones, Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County has expanded its services to include grief counseling, the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce was told Monday.
Dennis Beguelin, a member of the hospice board, told an audience of about 35 meeting at the Red Lion Hotel that volunteer grief counselors have been training and service for about a year.
They aren’t professionals and mostly serve as listeners for the grief-stricken, said Sue Hynes, executive director of the volunteer hospice.
“If it’s above our level, we will refer them to a professional,” Hynes said.
Grief counseling is offered in the form of a grief group or on a one-to-one basis, she said.
And like the hospice’s other services, there is no charge to those suffering.
The volunteers aren’t limited to helping people talk through their grief for a loved one who recently died, Beguelin said.
A person can feel grief after any major disruption in their life — divorce, family crisis, major lifestyle changes, financial losses or even the loss of a pet, Beguelin said.
Talking to a stranger is often easier than talking to a family member, he said.
Grief causes $75 billion in losses to businesses in the United States every year, Beguelin said.
The financial impact comes from lost staff hours as people take time off to care for a loved one, or in the decreased productivity of an employee suffering from grief.
Lee Chatfield, vice president of Volunteer Hospice, became involved in the organization when his wife was dying and was provided respite care so he could get out of the house, he said.
“The best thing was that it helped me to keep working,” Chatfield said. “It helped to be able to keep a normal outside life.”
Volunteer Hospice was founded in 1978 by Rose Crumb, a registered nurse who saw a need for hospice after her own experience with caring for her father in the mid-1970s.
During the early years, the hospice was run out of Crumb’s home while she raised 12 children.
In 1998, she received the Thomas Jefferson Award for her efforts, along with other accolades.
In the past few years, Crumb turned the organization over to Hynes.
The Port Angeles-based hospice organization now has six paid nurses, serves 90 or more families each year and has a $480,000 annual budget, Beguelin said.
The need for services has been increasing faster than Volunteer Hospice can raise funds.
“In 2010, the hospice expenses exceeded their funding by $130,000,” he said
Volunteer Hospice receives no tax money and spends about $500 a month for each individual under care, he said.
For more information on hospice services or to volunteer, phone Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County at 360-452-1511.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
