Contact the Hospice Palliative Care Volunteer Manager at 250-862-4126 ext. 3639 to express your interest in volunteering or apply through this website (by clicking on the application link at the top of the page).
Attend an information session (1.5 hours in length). This initial meeting will give you information sufficient to decide if volunteering with terminally ill clients/patients and their loved ones or with the bereaved is a suitable volunteer role for you. There are many other volunteer positions also available as listed below.
You will also be provided with the training requirements and expectations of your role as a volunteer.
Once you attend the information session and feel that the organization will be a fit, you will be required to meet with the Hospice Palliative Care Volunteer Manager. At that meeting, you will provide your completed application package which you will have received at the information session.
All volunteers are required to complete a criminal records search and to provide the names of two character references.
Hospice Training consists of 40 hours of class time and tours of facilities. Volunteers who complete the training receive a certificate of acknowledgement. Training is offered in the Spring and Fall each year and focuses on understanding the experience of death and dying, grief and loss, communication skills, spirituality, role of the volunteer, in addition to the role of the Palliative Care Team and the Palliative Response Team.
Upon completion, volunteers will be assigned to a program area that is assessed as suitable by the Coodinators of Services as well as the volunteer.
Volunteers are requested to commit to the organization for at least two years.
A nominal fee of $75 to be paid by the volunteer covers the cost of the training manual, name tag, criminal records search, first year membership, additional handouts and supplies.