Home Hospice North Lanark Issues Call for Community Support and Opportunities to Join our Team

Press Release – Home Hospice North Lanark

Recent strategic planning by the Board of Directors for Home Hospice North Lanark (HHNL) highlights that, over the past three years, client numbers have expanded exponentially, along with the growth in programs designed to support caregivers and those experiencing grief and bereavement. Home Hospice North Lanark serves a vast area, including Beckwith, Carleton Place, Almonte, Appleton, Clayton, Pakenham, and all the rural communities in between, covering approximately 45,000 citizens.

Three years ago, we were supporting four to five clients with five Visiting Volunteers. Today, we are supporting 55-60 clients with 26 Visiting Volunteers! This growth illustrates the increasing demand for our services. In addition to the client care offered in their homes, wherever that may be, HHNL now also provides Caregiver Support groups and education, Grief and Bereavement Support groups, a Day Hospice program, public education, and Death Cafés. Referrals for care are now coming from health professionals as far away as Ottawa, as they become increasingly aware of the high-quality programs that HHNL offers to citizens in North Lanark.

While we are excited and proud of the growth in our organization since 2021, the current and future demands for our services in North Lanark are threatening to overwhelm HHNL’s existing human, financial, and other resources. Recently, office space had to be procured at market rental cost to ensure appropriate room for consultations with nurses, meetings, and public education when donated space was no longer available or sufficient to meet our needs.

Home Hospice continues to seek sufficient and stable funding beyond what can be achieved through fundraising alone. A lack of base funding limits further opportunities to assist people with palliative end-of-life care and hinders succession planning, as current board directors and other key volunteers approach the end of their terms or leave the organization for personal reasons.

Home Hospice North Lanark is exceedingly grateful for the ongoing support of businesses and individuals, which has helped people coping with life-altering diagnoses and their caregivers to navigate the complex healthcare system and receive necessary services to manage their illnesses at home. To continue meeting the needs that any of us might have at some point in our lives, HHNL must move forward with confidence and assurance that we will have sufficient human and financial resources to support our programs and ensure succession planning.

Please click on the link provided to access job descriptions for a part-time Executive Director and a part-time Program Coordinator/Volunteer Coordinator. We encourage you to share these job opportunities with people you know who might be interested in joining our team to care for those facing some of the most challenging times in their lives. And please continue to support HHNL fundraising events—we can’t do it without you!

Click here: https://hhnl.ca/careers/ to learn more about these career opportunities.