Author: Robert DeSaeger

We are pleased to introduce a new series in our e-newsletter, “Meet the Board,” highlighting members of the new Joshua’s House Volunteer Hospice Board of Directors. This ongoing series will give you the opportunity to get to know the incredible mix of talented community leaders who make up our new Board.

For our first installation of the series, we spoke to Board member Randele (Randy) Kanouse, who also serves as the volunteer coordinator of “We Honor Veterans” at the UC Davis Hospice Program and the “We Honor Veterans” program at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula’s Hospice of the Central Coast.

Randy has been a UC Davis Hospice Program volunteer for more than 10 years and he will manage our program to honor our hospice patients who are veterans.

“I’ve performed ceremonies honoring approximately 160 patients who served in the armed forces during these past 10 years at UC Davis,” he shared.

Randy explained that the patients are encouraged to tell him whatever they are comfortable talking about from their years of their military service.

“We share stories and spend whatever time it takes to create a friendship, a bond,” he said. “Then, I take my notes from our conversation, and I often do a little internet research to learn more about where they served and what they did.”

He will follow this model with residents of Joshua’s House and work with staff to select a day and time to conduct a small ceremony to honor the selected veteran and thank them for their service. If the resident has any family member or any one they want to invite to the ceremony, a volunteer will help to do that. Staff and volunteers will attend the ceremony.

“It’s such an indescribable joy to observe and experience men and women who are so very close to their death be able to experience a quite spectacular day when they can listen to me laud their accomplishments while in the military service,” Randy said. “They often join in by telling stories and laughing as they reminisce about the days of their youth. As a veteran myself, I feel that I can create a bond with other veterans more easily, at times.”

Conducting these ceremonies may be more challenging for our homeless patients, he added.

“I look forward to offering this program to the homeless veterans at Joshua’s House. Homeless men and women deserve to be recognized for the sacrifices and hardships they, too, endured when they served in our Armed Services.”

Birth and death are the bookends of life, yet we welcome one and dread the other. Why is it that birth is celebrated, but death is taboo?” so asked Virginia Chang in an article published in Scientific American in June 2021.She writes about our history where “people were cared for and died at home, with corpses even displayed on dining room tables for mourning.” Over the years, we saw significant advances in medicine resulting in medical technology that helped improve diagnosis and the development of new treatments of illnesses. These developments moved health care away from local doctors and care delivered at home to patients going to the hospital and eventually dying there. While the number of people dying in hospitals has steadily decreased, the numbers still do not reflect the fact that 71% of people would prefer to die at home. And so little is being done to change the fact that unsheltered people, those who are living homeless, do not have access to comfort care or hospice care and die alone on our streets or along our rivers. They also often lack family support.Joshua’s House will provide trained and certified End of Life Doulas (ELDA) to serve residents if desired. ELDAs go through three phases when working with the terminally ill residents. The first phase focuses on meaning, legacy and planning. This is when Doulas will guide residents as they look back to seek the meaning in their lives in a deep, more structured way.In the second phase, when the person is actively dying, Doulas begin to conduct an end of life vigil, taking shifts in order to maintain a 24-hour presence.  The vigil phase typically lasts two to four days—but may continue for up to ten days.  During that time the Doulas implement the plan that the dying person set earlier. Sometimes Doulas ease pain by having the dying person visualize a peaceful place in nature or by providing therapeutic touch. They also assist in implementing the plan for the atmosphere around the dying person and their wishes for music and reading. The third phase is designed to help bring closure to the staff and volunteers (and family members if any are present) after a resident dies.

This past week, news of the spread of coronavirus and of turbulent financial markets has dominated the media and our thinking. As crises like these take center stage, focus on our organizations’ missions can often take a back seat. But, sadly, homeless individuals across the state and the country are suffering even more now than ever before. They are living unsheltered in difficult weather and faced with the risks of more illnesses and much less access to health care in the midst of COVID-19!

We are helping where we can to address the daily concerns of our homeless men and women during this chaos. And at the same time, we also continue our hard work to raise the money we need to get Joshua’s House Hospice open in our community this year!

The City of Sacramento is now committed to addressing the COVID-19 virus and to help those individuals and businesses experiencing economic devastation caused by the virus. In turn, it appears that moneys intended to help those experiencing homelessness while dealing with end of life issues are being diverted to the coronavirus pandemic.

It is important that each of you act responsibly, stay safe and healthy – try not to panic – and stay connected via emails, text messages, and phone calls. We also invite your ideas, suggestions, and thoughts about how we can continue to mindfully raise the money we need to complete construction of Joshua’s House Hospice in order to provide the hospice care so desperately needed by those experiencing homelessness.

Marlene von Friederichs – Fitzwater

Interested in learning more about Joshua’s House Hospice and the incredible people and organizations that support us? Find our Presence Newsletter here and subscribe!

“Friends” at Joshua’s House Hospice are very special people. They are a group of volunteers who have gone through a program to include hours of instruction and training to prepare for becoming companions of residents. They will be by their side as they go through their end of life experience. These Friends, men and women, come from varying backgrounds and have each committed their time, and a sense of love and compassion for the individuals who will be served at Joshua’s House Hospice.

Recently, the group attended a training facilitated by Kris Kington-Barker, instructor and board member with the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA, https://www.inelda.org/). Doulas are trained in the recognizing and understanding stages of dying and death; grief and grieving; non-medical ways of supporting the dying, including advocating for patient needs; comfort touch; compassionate presence; active listening, communication strategies; the use of imagery and music; spiritual and cultural beliefs, and needs at the end of life. In the case of Joshua’s House Hospice, those who will become residents often will not have any kind of family support, therefore they may feel alone or abandoned and without safety or acceptance. Doulas can provide a stable presence for them and a sense of comfort at this dire time.

Kris says, “I am so impressed with the amazing efforts and achievements by Joshua’s House Hospice to realize Joshua Lee Nelson’s vision of creating a hospice house for the terminally ill homeless in Sacramento. When Marlene (founder  of Joshua’s House Hospice) reached out to INELDA to inquire about how volunteers trained as end-of-life doulas could support men and women previously living on the streets and now dying in Joshua’s House, it aligned with a core mission of, and grant received by, INELDA through the Gutenstein Family Foundation. The grant is to provide pro bono training in service of Prisoners, Veterans, and Homeless. We were excited to support the effort and through our prior work at the California Men’s Colony we knew the profound impact this approach could have.”

Training for the Friends will continue, and they will be supported while they become more accustomed to their roles as doulas. INELDA will also continue to support Joshua’s House Hospice and the Friends through ongoing engagement but the experience of working with clients is the next step in the overall process. As Kris poignantly mentions, “there is an expression that ‘the dying are our best teachers.’”

Interested in learning more about Joshua’s House Hospice and the incredible people and organizations that support us? Find our Presence Newsletter here and subscribe!