Joliet hospice honors its 120 volunteers with yard signs and field calls

Lightways Hospice and Serious Illness Care in Joliet honored its 120 volunteers last week by placing signs in their yards for National Volunteer Appreciation Week.

The signs said, “An awesome volunteer lives here” and were well-received by the volunteers, said Eileen Gutierrez, senior director of development for the Joliet hospice, who delivered 10 of the signs herself.

Some of the signs even generated interest from the volunteers’ neighbors, Gutierrez said.

“We’ve had people call us and say, ‘Hey, I saw one of those signs. Do you still need more volunteers?’ ” Gutierrez said. “The answer is a resounding yes.”

Gutierrez said about 150 people volunteered for Lightways Hospice (formerly Joliet Area Community Hospice) before the pandemic. But not all returned once volunteers could visit homes and serve inside the hospice building, she said.

“Many of our volunteers are retired,” Gutierrez said. “So, by nature, many of our volunteers are a little bit older. But we also have plenty of work for the young folks, and we’d love to have them.”

Gutierrez said volunteer opportunities abound in direct and indirect care. Direct care volunteers visit people in their homes, at nursing homes or at the in-patient units at Lightways. Indirect care volunteers greet visitors at the front door, bake for special events, or create and sell memory bears, she said.

[ Joliet Area Community Hospice volunteers make memorial care bears ]

Volunteers even help care for pets when their owners are unable to do so, Gutierrez said.

“They walk the dogs, take the cats to the vet or whatever needs to be done,” she said.

Gutierrez said volunteers also help with pinning ceremonies for veterans, which is a “poignant part of our veterans care.” The veteran in hospice care receives a special pin from his or her branch of armed services in a special ceremony at a time that’s convenient for the veteran and the veteran’s family, she said.

“We have so many volunteers,” Gutierrez said. “But we would like to get more.”

For information about volunteer opportunities, contact Chris McCarthy 815-460-3262, cmccarthy@lightways.org or visit lightways.org/volunteer-opportunities.