Name: Elaine Kokko How long have you been a volunteer? Four years. What areas do you work in/what sort of tasks do you do as a volunteer? Bereavement, memorials, the Holiday Children’s Workshop, makes salads for weekly Caregiver Suppers, development, mailings, and annual events. What made you decide to become a volunteer? One of my good friends is a nurse on B-wing in the Care Center and I wanted to give back. What is your favorite part about volunteering? The people that I work with, that I volunteer with. The social workers in the Bereavement Department are really wonderful. When you walk into Angela Hospice it’s just a wonderful place to be. Elaine (center) at last year's Volunteer Appreciation dinner. What is one of your favorite stories or memories from volunteering? Oh gosh, they are all favorite moments. (laughs) There isn’t really a favorite moment…just the fact that I’m so honored to be able to wear the badge. 

Name, title: Bernadine Hillman, Home Care Aide/CHPNA How long have you worked here? Over 12 years. What made you decide to work here? When I was working for a home care agency that was located in Livonia they had assigned me a patient that had dementia, and she was on hospice, and she passed. I didn’t realize how emotionally attached I had become to her until her daughter told me she was dying…so that’s when I decided ok, I think that’s my calling; to get into hospice. And I’m glad I did. How had you heard of Angela Hospice? Through a CNA program that I was taking at the time, they had listed some different agencies that were hiring. Bernadine has worked at Angela Hospice for over 12 years. What’s a typical day like for you? I go to my first visit, where I’m welcomed by the family, or the patient if they stay alone. Then I get them prepared for their personal care, setting out what I would need to give them a bath or assist them in the shower. Then I...

Char (center) has been an Angela Hospice volunteer for almost five years. For volunteer Char Kramer the idea of becoming a volunteer at Angela Hospice happened through the power of suggestion. Char had recently retired and was looking for somewhere to volunteer when her friend, and fellow Angela Hospice volunteer, Holly Hodgson mentioned that she was going to sign up to volunteer at Angela Hospice. Char jumped at the chance to volunteer for hospice. “She told me she was going to sign up for hospice and I thought, ‘What a great idea!’” said Char, whose mother was a hospice patient in Minnesota in 2007. Char, who has now been a volunteer for almost five years, may not have known a whole lot about Angela Hospice, but she did have firsthand experience of how wonderful hospice care can be. Char said thanks to hospice her mom was able to receive expert care during the last chapter of her life. “I don’t think anything can beat that,” she said. So in the fall of 2011 s...