MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – WVU Healthcare’s No One Dies Alone program is looking for volunteers to sit and spend time with patients as they make it through the final journey of their lives.
“When patients have no family that can be with them, we need volunteers who care enough to step in and treat this person as if they were their own family member,” John Hardman, manager of Pastoral Care, said. “It’s important to honor this person’s life and treat them with the humanity and respect they deserve.”
The program is seeking people who are caring, compassionate and comfortable with being around people as they die. It provides training to help volunteers understand the dying process and what can be said or done to make the last part of their lives meaningful and valuable.
To be eligible for the program, volunteers must:
• Be age 18 or older
• Speak, read or write English
• Be reliable, and have a mature attitude about death and dying
• Have spare time to volunteer
• Complete a volunteer application and training
One-hour training sessions will take place in May.
For more information please contact Nancy Beckner, volunteer coordinator, at 304-598-4134 or becknern@wvuhealthcare.com.