Volunteer Spotlight: Mike Dziuban

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Name: Mike Dziuban

How long have you been a volunteer?
Almost three years.

What areas do you work in/what sort of tasks do you do?
Home care and spiritual care.

What made you decide to become a volunteer?
Sometimes you just have a feeling. What it was with me was I have a closed-head injury and it took some time to recover. When I did I wasn’t going back to work and I just had this strong desire to volunteer.

I actually started doing spiritual care in hospitals about eight years ago, which I still do today. After a while I was interested in Angela Hospice so I started visiting people in their home and I just love visiting the people.

Why Angela Hospice?
In a hospital they are usually in-and-out, but at Angela Hospice you’re there for the people, to be with the people, and that’s what got my attention.

It was an inner feeling to do this and I don’t know how you explain it. I came down, took the class, and I tried it and loved it. I’ve been doing it ever since.

Sometimes I’m with people for eight months but I keep visiting that same person week after week. You really develop a connection.

What is your favorite part about volunteering?
Visiting the people.

What is one of your favorite stories or memories from volunteering?
There was an individual I was visiting and I visited him for around eight months. You’re with them from where he’s deteriorating until the very end, but you’re with him the whole time. You sort of develop a relationship with them and the whole family. It becomes somewhat of a personal connection. You come in and you’re just open for discussion, and you’re there for him.

As they were going through tough times I was there with his wife and he was having a difficult time so I would have to help her with him. But right up until the end I would sit there and drink coffee with him once a week. It was just spending the time with him. You kind of get close, and you kind of feel some of the pain and suffering when they’re gone after you spend that much time with them. That was the one I remember the most.

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