U.P. Home Health and Hospice seeks volunteers

ISHPEMING — One of Marquette County’s favorite events is fast approaching.

Dancing with the Stars, Marquette County Style is about two weeks out. The event is put on by Upper Peninsula Home Health and Hospice and now they’re asking for your help.

“Because of all the publicity the event is getting, we have had more awareness of hospice which means more hospice patients. We have the biggest load of hospice patients we’ve ever had right now and we only have a handful of volunteers and we need quite a few more!” said Katie Wilkins, Volunteer Coordinator at Upper Peninsula Home Health and Hospice.

The hospice has over 40 patients now, but only 23 volunteers. You may be nervous to volunteer, but Katie says it can actually be a great time.

“The point of hospice care is when someone stops seeking curative care and they start seeking comfort care. Being a hospice volunteer doesn’t necessarily mean just going and sitting with someone and holding their hand. We have patients from all walks of life, from your little old ladies to not–that–old retired miners. They don’t want to sit around and talk about their feelings, they want to sit around and play cribbage and, you know, talk like old times and hang out with the guys,” Katie added.

The hospice is also looking for more male volunteers, as there are just as many male patients as female. If you’d like to volunteer, head over to our website for more information.