- [Hospice Volunteer] What animals did they have growing up?

What do they do for work, what their grandkids are doing?

All of these things is... I like to just try to get them to talk, 'cause everybody has a story.

Everybody wants their story to be heard and told.

- When most people hear "hospice," they think of the very end of life.

But volunteers and families say it's about dignity, connection, and kindness until the last moment and beyond.

Hospice care is often misunderstood as something that only happens in someone's final days.

But for the families and the volunteers who serve them, it's so much more.

And with Michigan's population getting older, the need for hospice and for the volunteers who make it possible has never been greater.

Jamie Menkowitz shows us how hospice volunteers are filling the gaps and bringing comfort to families across the state.

- [Jamie] Like so many daughters, Hillary Cash spent years helping her parents navigate illness.

Last spring, she, her brothers, and their mother faced the hardest decision yet, whether to call in hospice care for their dad.

- So my dad's health journey has been a long time coming.

13 years before he passed away, he had his first stroke.

So starting at that time, my family very much questioned many times what was the best for my dad in his health journey and how to take care of him.

For the first 10 years or so, he was still well enough that my mom could take care of him and take care of his basic needs and assist him when needed.

And then within eight weeks of each other, he had two consecutive strokes that put him needing full-time care.

And we actually explored hospice a couple years ago, but it wasn't the right time.

They weren't to that point in his health journey.

This spring, early spring, he needed surgery, and every time he went to go get his blood checked, he was never well enough to have surgery.

So a kind doctor, after reading my dad's documents at the hospital, kindly said to my mom, "I think you should explore hospice."

So at this time, my mom, I think through much prayer and consideration, sat us kids down, or called all of us and just said, "This doctor suggested hospice.

What do you think?"

I have two older brothers, and we all kind of said, "Finally, Mom, I think this is the right choice."

- [Jamie] Their family was not alone in this tough decision.

Michigan is getting older.

The state's poll in healthy aging shows that by 2030, one in four residents will be over the age of 60.

Nearly half of Medicare patients here already use hospice at the end of life.

Kathy Lietaert oversees volunteers for Hospice of Michigan in Arbor Hospice across the state.

- Back in the 80s, before hospice care was a paid benefit through Medicare or through private insurance companies, it was all volunteer.

The doctors, the nurses, anyone who cared for a family with somebody that was dying was done in communities, so they wanted to maintain that community aspect.

- [Jamie] Hospice isn't just a service for patients, it's care for the whole family.

Doctors and nurses handle the medical side, but volunteers step into the quiet spaces with something just as vital, their presence.

- They provide what the clinical staff doesn't, and that's companionship with the patients.

It's whatever they want to do.

You know, they can read a book, they can hold a hand, they can share a story.

It's the true companionship in the heart of what maybe a patient and family needs at end of life.

- When we initially sat down with the hospice person, they explained to us that hospice doesn't do preventative care, they just do comfort care.

And I think that took my mom a little time to accept that.

I think she, to accept, okay, we're not gonna longer do anything to help him, we're just gonna help have him be comforted in life was a big adjustment for her, but I think they very much helped with that transition.

- [Jamie] For many volunteers, that means simply being present, listening, talking, and standing vigil when needed.

Some, like Shiloh Defreese, even bring therapy dogs along.

Her golden retriever, Remy, sits quietly at bedsides, offering comfort only an animal can give.

- Yeah, I listen a lot.

I've heard so many stories.

I hear stories about livestock farming in the 1930s.

There's some special stuff there, how people have met their spouses, different games that they love to play, favorite foods, all of these things.

We just talk about anything and everything.

One of my favorites was talking about roller skating and dancing with boys in high school and getting in trouble when they went back home, and yeah.

- [Jamie] Some volunteers even stay with patients during their final hours, offering a calm hand to hold.

- Well, I did a vigil for one of my closest patients, and he tried so hard to just be himself like, "Hey, how you doing," when I got there, you know?

And I'm like, "No, no, we're just here to relax "and just hold your hand and you just rest," you know?

And for him to be like, "Okay, I like that," that was really nice to be there.

- [Jamie] Marsha Barnhart records patient stories, so families can keep them forever.

- And that is a keepsake that will go on for generations.

I often tell people I interview that people that are not born yet are going to see this story, and they're going to see what their great-grandmother looked like and how her eyes twinkled and her lip lifted up when she smiled a certain way, and you won't get that any other way.

This is an encapsulation of a time that a great-grandchild will see.

That's pretty special.

- [Jamie] During the pandemic, when visits stopped, volunteers found new ways to connect, like handwritten cards that now fill memory boxes.

- Most recently, we had a patient on services for about at least six months, and the volunteer was writing cards to the patient the whole time.

And at some point the patient said, "I'd really like to meet this person "who's sending me cards."

So then the volunteer eventually met the patient and the husband, and I think it was a lasting impact, because that patient did pass, and the husband still has all those cards to remember that by.

- [Jamie] Sometimes it's as simple as a grocery run or a pharmacy pickup.

Hospice workers and volunteers both do the little things families didn't know they'd need until they're needed most.

For families, hospice means they don't have to walk alone, not during their loved one's final days and not in the months that follow.

- One thing I'm appreciative is that hospice came in and treated him like a person, that he just was a patient to them.

They got to know him and they cared for him.

- [Jamie] That's why volunteers matter so much.

Hospice of Michigan alone relies on more than 600 trained volunteers to cover 50 counties, but even that isn't enough to meet the growing demand statewide.

Most people need care, and fewer workers are available to give it, making volunteers an essential lifeline for patients and families.

- I think that the day that my dad passed away, I know they gifted my mom a little bereavement box with some things in it that where a comfort to my mom and little keepsakes that she could have and then resources that she could use in the future, but also, didn't overwhelm her with information, knew that it was still in the moment.

- [Jamie] From bedside vigils to grief counseling that lasts more than a year, hospice helps families after every first after loss, the first birthday, the first anniversary, the first holiday.

For Hillary and her family, it comes down to gratitude.

- I think just a simple thank you, thank you for coming in at a time that my family needed them, at a time that we will always appreciate.

My dad only ended up being in hospice for a couple months, and in those months, I think my mom made good relationships with the people.

She felt cared for by them.

And again, just so thankful for how they treated my dad in his last couple weeks that he was on earth.

- [Jamie] And for the volunteers, it's not just giving their time, it's an experience that changes their hearts and their outlook on life.

- Life goes pretty quick, and you want to try to minimize regrets, because I've been with some people who've told them my story, and they had some terrible regrets that they unburdened at the end.

So, it's made me realize that life goes fast.

Be alive while you're here.

Try to do good and have a life of purpose.

- It's rewarding to talk to these people and to be able to pass on their stories, and I very much enjoy that, just seeing them at a time that most people consider sad or depressing or at the end of life, right?

And they're so full of life, they want to tell their story, and they want to be remembered, and they want to be known.

And so, to be part of that is just amazing - [Jamie] For Hillary and her family, those small acts of care, the kindness at the end, aren't just memories of her father's last days through the way his life continues to be honored and carried forward.

- I think it's through the little moments and the memories that we share and the little things that we do in honor of my dad that continue to carry him on for all of us.

(gentle music) - Organizations, like Hospice of Michigan and many others, welcome compassionate people who want to make a difference in someone's final chapter.

Here's how you can help.

Contact your local hospice about volunteer opportunities, apply and complete specialized training.

Then, choose a role that fits you, from patient companionship to caregiver relief or administrative support, there's always room for another helping hand.