December News & Events
HospiChair Fundraiser  
Help Hospicare Get New Lift-Assist Chairs for Patients       
Peggy Houghtling and pet visitor
Patient Peggy Houghtling relaxes with a pet visitor in the old recliner in her room at the Residence.

Our goal at the Hospicare Residence is to provide home-like surroundings. That includes furnishing our six patient rooms with recliner chairs where patients and their loved ones can relax and perhaps take a nap. But after years of hard use and rigorous cleaning, these chairs are wearing out.  

 

This month we are participating in the following two fundraising initiatives to raise money to purchase new power lift-assist recliners--or HospiChairs--for our patient rooms. Our goal is to raise $6,000. Here's how you can help.

 

#GivingTuesday

On December 2 we'll be celebrating #GivingTuesday, an international day of philanthropy and volunteering on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. On that day, we encourage you to donate to the HospiChair campaign and help a lift-assist chair fulfill its mission to support a Hospicare patient.

 

Visit the #GivingTuesday HospiChair website to donate or to become a Chair Champion and spread the word via social networking.

 

Tompkins Trust Company                 

Community Minute Challenge

December 1-15, Hospicare will be a candidate in the Tompkins Trust Company Community Minute Challenge--a Facebook contest which awards a $1,000 prize to the non-profit with the most votes. The winner of this round of the Challenge will also have the chance to win another $5,000 in the final round.  

 

If we should win the prize, we will put those funds towards our HospiChair initiative, pooling the money with donations raised through #GivingTuesday.

 

Visit the Community Minute voting tab on the Tompkins Trust Facebook page to vote for Hospicare.

 

Eight Tips to Help Someone Who Is Grieving During the Holidays  
Sad man and woman

 

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization offers the following advice for how to support your loved ones who are struggling with grief at the holidays.

 

For many people, the holiday season is a special time of year marked by celebrations and gatherings with family and friends. For those struggling with the death of a loved one, the holidays may be a difficult time full of painful reminders that emphasize their sense of loss. Often, friends and family members of those affected by a loss are unsure how to act or what to say to support their grieving loved one during this time.

 

Hospice professionals, who are experienced at helping people deal with grief and loss, offer some suggestions:

 

1. Be supportive of the way the person chooses to handle the holidays. Some may wish to follow traditions; others may choose to avoid customs of the past and do something new. It's okay to do things differently.

 

Read more tips on how to support grieving loved ones during the holidays.

 

Hospicare Memorial Event
Light the Landscape       

Hospicare Buidling lit up at night

Although winter is upon us, the light of remembrance burns strong in our hearts. Please join us for Light the Landscape on Tuesday, December 9--an evening of music, refreshments and a candle-lighting ceremony as we remember our loved ones during this time of darkness.  

 

Light the Landscape is held in the Great Room of the Nina K. Miller Hospicare Center and includes a special display of the names of those who are being remembered. The reception starts at 5:30 p.m. The program begins at 6:00 p.m.

 

Visit the Light the Landscape website for more information or to RSVP for the event. Please note: If you would like your loved one's name included in our remembrance display, please let us know by December 5.

 

Light of My Life
Hospice Foundation of Cortland County Will Hold Memorial Event 

The holiday season is a time to gather with family and friends and also to remember those who have gone. In acknowledgement of this special time of year, the Hospice Foundation of Cortland County, Hospicare's partner in providing hospice services to Cortland County, will hold their annual December event, Light of My Life. It will take place on December 5 in conjunction with the Village of Homer's holiday celebration, Christmas on the Green.

 

For a gift of $5 or more, donors can remember a loved one with a symbolic "light" on the Light of My Life memorial tree, which will stay lit throughout the holiday season.

 

Visit the Light of My Life website for more information or to donate in memory of a loved one.

 

Save the Dates!

Held at the Nina K. Miller Hospicare Center

172 E. King Road, Ithaca, NY 

  • Women Singin' 12/2, 1/6 (1st Tuesday of the month), 5:30-7:00 PM
  • Evening Support Group for Newly Bereaved 12/3, 5:30-7:00 PM  
  • Monthly Bereaved Parents Group 12/4 (1st Thursday of the month), 5:30-7:00 PM
  • NEW Daytime Support Group for Newly Bereaved (for those with a loss in the last 18 months) Begins in January: 1/8, 1/22, 10:00-11:30 AM
  • Evening Support Group for All Bereaved 12/17, 1/7, 1/21 (3rd Wednesday of the month in December, 1st & 3rd Wednesdays starting in January), 5:30-7:00 PM    

  • Light the Landscape 12/9, 5:30 PM, (held in the Hospicare Residence Great Room)

Held at the Cortland Office
11 Kennedy Parkway, Cortland, NY
  • NEW Afternoon Support Group for All Bereaved 12/4, 1/22, Noon-1:30 PM
  • NEW Morning Support Group for All Bereaved 1/6, 10:00-11:30 AM

Off-Site Events

For more information on any of the above groups or events, please call 607-272-0212, or visit our Events page to download a PDF of our current calendar.

 
Our mission is to bring medical expertise and compassionate, respectful care to people and their loved ones at any stage of a life-threatening illness, and to provide information and education about advanced illness, dying and bereavement to the entire community.

In the News
Hospitals around the country are starting palliative care programs, and the specialty is expected to increase as Baby Boomers get older.

  

An oncologist remembers his patient who went on Hospice and gained strength and vigor as his care shifted to providing comfort rather than drastic treatment measures.

Families of those suffering from Alzheimer's often don't understand the help hospice can bring to them and to their loved one.

Seeing the 'Invisible Patient' 
Physicians often overlook the needs of caregivers when treating terminally ill patients, neglecting to give them adequate support and recognition.  
Website of Interest

An Upstate New York-focused website dedicated to patients, families, caregivers and physicians dealing with end-of-life issues. 
two hands clasping
Help terminally ill people spend the end of their lives peacefully and without pain.

Women Swimmin'
You can still donate to support one of the 311 amazing women who swam this year. We continue to take donations through the end of the year.

Our Wish List
Items to make patients and their families more comfortable. 

Amazon Smile
Shop through Amazon Smile, and 0.5% of your purchase price will be donated to Hospicare.
Quick Links  

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info@hospicare.org

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