Become A Volunteer

Make a difference in the lives of families in your community – become a volunteer!

Volunteers are needed in Family Hospice and the Healing Patch. Tell us your interests, and we will assist you in matching you with one of our many programs.

Apply

How can you become a volunteer?

Interested volunteers can apply online or complete a printable version of the volunteer application.

For more information, contact:

Healing Patch: Shalen Steinbugl, Volunteer Coordinator/Grief Specialist, at 814-947-7140 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Family Hospice (Bedford, Blair, and Cambria counties): Catherine Zimmerman-Moyer, Volunteer Coordinator, at 814-947-7111 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Family Hospice (Centre, Huntingdon, Mifflin, and Juniata counties): Carole Palmer, Volunteer and Bereavement Coordinator, at 814-69-9193 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Family Hospice

"I have a passion for striving to make other people's lives better. Offering companionship to hospice patients is a way to accomplish that."

- K.C. Sheeler, Hospice Volunteer

Compassion lies at the core of Family Hospice program, and specially-trained volunteers are at the heart of hospice. Volunteers can make a profound difference by serving as an integral part of the Family Hospice team of caring professionals who provide support, relief, and companionship for patients experiencing life-limiting illnesses. Some of the qualities that lead an individual to become a Family Hospice volunteer include compassion, empathy, acceptance of others, flexibility, dedication, and commitment. Such qualities enable volunteers to provide relief to patients and their families as they deal with life’s limiting illnesses.

What does a hospice volunteer do?

Family Hospice volunteers:

Show compassion for and provide support to patients of all ages and families, as well as fellow volunteers.
Are emotionally present and listen to people who are dealing with physical and emotional pain.
Write letters, read, talk or listen, and provide other supportive acts of kindness.
Provide relief to family members.
Report responses of patients and families to hospice staff.
Provide administrative support in the hospice office.
Work as part of the hospice team.
Interact with various people from different ethnic, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds.
Are responsible and dependable.
Complete volunteer training.
Complete regular inservices.

Please note: We encourage surviving family members to wait a minimum of one year following the death of a close loved-one before serving as an active hospice volunteer.

For a printable version of the volunteer application, click here.

If you would like to apply online, click here.

Healing Patch

What is the Healing Patch?

"For me, it is most rewarding to see the positive impact this program has on children-it allows them to open up and just be real about how they feel in a safe environment. I also love seeing the connections they make with one another, knowing they are not alone."

- Michelle Wysong, Healing Patch Volunteer

The Healing Patch Children's Grief Program offers a soft place to fall for children and their families who have lost a loved one. A free service for children of preschool age through 18 years, the Healing Patch is a safe environment where children and their families can discover they are not alone in their grief by interacting with others who have encountered similar losses.

Why are volunteers so essential?

Volunteers are the heart of the Healing Patch. Without them, these free services could not exist for the grieving children and families of our community. It takes a special type of person to absorb the tragic stories children share at the Healing Patch. While volunteers must understand they are unable to “fix” what has happened, volunteers are able to help bring hope and healing back into the life of a child.

Could you be a Healing Patch volunteer?

Healing Patch volunteers must:

Be able to interact with people from different ethnic, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds.
Be emotionally present and actively listen to people who are dealing with emotional pain.
Have compassion for and provide support to grieving families, as well as to fellow volunteers.
Be responsible and dependable.
Be able to work in teams with other individuals.
Participate in and complete volunteer trainings.
Be available to participate in most scheduled meetings.
Be at least 21 years old.
Complete TB testing and receive a flu vaccine (during flu season). New volunteers receive comprehensive training and have assistance in obtaining clearances.

The qualities that lead an individual to be a volunteer in the first place — compassion, empathy, acceptance of others, flexibility, dedication and commitment — are the same qualities that enable volunteers to support families in their journey through grief.