November 2015 News & Events
When You're Grieving 
Learn How to Take Care of Yourself During the Holidays
Photo by Greg Balzer / Foter.com

The holidays can be an especially stressful time when we are grieving the loss of a loved one. We feel pressure to enjoy ourselves even while we feel the pain of our loss.

Hospicare is offering "Handling the Holidays," a workshop to help grievers learn how to take care of themselves and honor their feelings. Staff grief counselors will give a presentation and lead discussion.


What: Handling the Holidays

When: Tuesday, December 1, 6:00-7:30 PM OR
Tuesday, December 8, 10:00-11:30 AM
(Choose one of two possible sessions)

Where: Hospicare Center, 172 East King Road, Ithaca

Please register for either session by calling 607-272-0212 or e-mailing bereavement@hospicare.org.

Going on Hospice
What Caregivers Can Expect from Hospicare

 
When a patient chooses to receive Hospicare's services, they immediately begin to receive care based on the principles of comfort, dignity and choice. This individualized patient- and family-centered care is most often provided in the comfort of the patient's own home.

Knowing that their loved one can remain in their own home while being cared for by professionals trained in end-of-life care can often ease the minds of the patient's family members and friends. But there is another piece to the end-of-life care-giving puzzle that is also extremely important: the primary caregiver. While Hospicare team members will visit patients in their homes, those visits are usually an hour at a time, a few times a week. The main caregiving duties still fall to the patient's caregiver, usually a family member.
 
We will do all we can to assist the primary caregiver . . .

Read more about what caregivers can expect from Hospicare.

Quilt raffle

 

We recently received a donation of this beautiful patchwork quilt, measuring 92"x92," to be raffled as a fundraiser for Hospicare. The quilt was made by a group of women in Virgil, NY, who have been quilting together for years They were led by Jay Zitter, who was a Hospicare patient. Jay and her friends created the quilt while Jay was receiving hospice services. They named their creation "Friends in Your Corner" because there are so many corners in the quilt and because Hospicare staff and volunteers have been in their corner throughout Jay's illness and death.

Tickets are $5 each or five tickets for $20. They are available for purchase at the following locations:
  • Hospicare's Ithaca office, 172 East King Road, weekdays, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
  • Hospicare's Cortland office, 11 Kennedy Parkway, weekdays, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
  •  Sunny Days of Ithaca, in downtown Ithaca 
  • From various Hospicare staff and Board members

The winning ticket will be drawn on December 21, 2015, at the Ithaca office. You do not need to be present to win. Ticket purchasers must be at least 18 years of age.


Community Fundraisers Support Hospicare's End-of-Life Work

15 STEPS Fundraiser 
In recognition of National Hospice and Palliative Care Month and in celebration of this season of giving, our friends at 15 STEPS will once again be holding a fundraiser.

They will donate 10% of sales from Friday, November 27 through Sunday, November 29 to Hospicare. They will also be selling raffle tickets for the "Friends in Your Corner" quilt.
 
4th Annual Jewelry & More Sale 
A variety of jewelry will be available for sale, from costume to quality, with prices starting at $2. Also available are scarves of all sizes and designs, and crystals. All proceeds go to support Hospicare's music program. The sale will be Saturday, November 7, at First Baptist Church, Dewitt Park, Ithaca, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 pm.        
Save the Dates! 
Held at the Nina K. Miller Hospicare Center
172 E. King Road, Ithaca, NY
  • Women Singin' (1st Tuesday of the month), 11/3, 12/1, 5:30−7:00 PM
  • General Support Group for All Bereaved (1st & 3rd Wednesdays of the month), 11/4 & 11/18, 12/2 & 12/16, 5:30−7:00 PM
  • Monthly Bereaved Parents Group (1st Thursday of the month), 11/5, 12/3, 5:30−7:00 PM
  • Bereaved Parents Four-Week Group: Making Loss Meaningful Mondays, 11/30, 12/7, 12/14 & 12/21, 5:30−7:30 PM. Participants must commit to all four sessions.
  • Handling the Holidays Workshop Choose one of two possible sessions times: Tuesday 12/1, 6:00-7:30 PM OR Tuesday, 12/8, 10:00-11:30 AM
  • Light the Landscape Memorial Event Sunday, 12/6, 3:30 PM
Held at the Cortland Hospicare Office
11 Kennedy Parkway, CLortland, NY
  • Morning Support Group for All Bereaved (1st Tuesday of the month), 11/3, 12/1, 10:00−11:30 AM
  • Afternoon Support Group for All Bereaved (3rd Thursday of the month), 11/19, 12/17, Noon−
    1:30 PM
  • Evening Support Group for All Bereaved (2nd Wednesday of the month beginning in October), 11/11, 12/9, 5:30−7:00 PM
Held Offsite
  • 4th Annual Jewelry and More Benefit Sale Saturday, 11/7, 9:30 AM-1:00 PM. This sale will be held at First Baptist Church, Dewitt Park, Ithaca.
  • Y Wellness Workshops Film Series A film series on end-of-life issues with discussion to follow lead by Hospicare volunteers, 6:30−8:30 PM. Free and open to the public. These showings are held at the YMCA of Ithaca Wellness Center, 50 Graham Road West, Ithaca.
    • Alive Inside, 11/18
    • Gifts of Grief 1/13
  •  Light of My Life Memorial Event  Friday, 12/4, 6:30 PM. This event is held on the Village Green in Homer, NY
  • Clay for the Healing Heart: A Children's Workshop Sunday, 12/13, 5:00-7:00 PM. This event will be held at The Clay School, South Hill Business Park, Ithaca.
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. Some workshops and events require preregistration.
 
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

The Haunting Death That Fuels My Passion
Dr. Amy Tan reflects on our refusal to treat death as we treat birth: as a normal event that we should prepare for both medically and emotionally.

Heaven Over Hospital
The parents of a dying 5-year-old allow the girl to choose her end-of-life care amid controversy.

A psychiatrist and professor of medical ethics argues that our denial of death robs us of the understanding of our own mortality, and physician-assisted dying is just one example of this.

Living With Cancer: Deciding About Dying
The author, who has ovarian cancer, looks at the difference between suicide and physician-assisted dying.

Dying at Home Brings More Peace Without More Pain
A new study finds that patients and loved ones find greater comfort spending last days together at home.

Website of Interest

Open to Hope 
This organization is dedicated to helping people find hope after loss through sharing stories of hope and compassion.

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 299 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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