As a hospice social worker, I know that sometimes, when it rains, it pours. I work with families who are caring for a loved one who is dying. They sometimes have the additional burden of being unable to pay the rent, an electric bill, of having a broken a/c unit or simply being unable to put groceries on the table. I can part the clouds for a brief moment for these families by contacting Compassionate Care Hospice Foundation. Rozie and her staff live up to their name...they are compassionate and quickly send the financial relief my families need. These families get not only the financial help they need, they also feel that sometimes, when things seem to be going all wrong, complete strangers can help restore hope.
Mamie Keller, LMSW
As part of my duties as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I link patients and families with needed resources. One particular case stands out in my memory & I am grateful for the assistance provided by Compassionate Care Hospice Foundation (CCHF). Using comfort fund accounts, we were able to fulfill a dying mother's wish to provide an unforgettable 3rd birthday party for her son. We also provided her son with a stuffed Courage Lion from a bereavement program developed by CCHF & dressed it in a shirt with a picture of him and his mom. I am thankful every day to work with an organization that truly goes above and beyond for its patients and families.
-Michelle Chevallier, MSW, LCSW
Alexandria, LA
I am a Clinical Social Worker with Compassionate Care Hospice. I have the privilege of working in the Lakeland, FL office currently and previously worked in the Parsippany, NJ office. Not often when you give to a charity do you know exactly where it goes, one hopes it is given to whom it is promised. This is not the case with the Compassionate Care Hospice Foundation: I see with my own eyes where the money is going and hear the joy and gratitude in the voices of patients and their families. Just in the last month they have paid the rent for 3 of my struggling families. Summer is a very tough time in Florida with high electric bills, in the last 2 months 6 of my patients have had their electric bill paid when it was about to be turned off. The foundation has provided just in the last month 3 Walmart gift cards for food and 1 for school clothes for my families. When I worked in NJ a memorable moment was when a 29 year old AIDS patient had to move into his mothers home. The only room the hospital bed would fit in was not properly wired since the house was very old. The Foundation quickly wired the room so that this young patient could spend his last moments in his comfortable hospital bed. As the LCSW working with my families I get the hugs, tears thanks and blessing from the families for taking some of the financial pressure off during difficult times. Truly I am merely the messenger getting to work with a fabulous organization where I see weekly where our contributions go. Tonya Flores LCSW
Hi I stated out working with CCH when we opened our location in Bartow, Florida. I worked as a Social Worker, Bereavement Coordinator, and as a Volunteer Coordinator. When I was in the Social Worker role, Compassionate Care Foundation helped a family buy a dryer so the daughter did not have to hang the clothes out on a line outside. The daughter was so happy that she now had a dryer to dry their clothes, and she could now spend more time with her mother who was a patient on our services. The daughter could not thank CCH enough for the dryer. As a Bereavement Coordinator, the Foundation helped a family pay their rent, because they had paid the money they had for the rent towards the patients cremation cost and service. The family told me if it was not for CCH Foundation's help they would have lost their home. The Foundation has been their to help our patients and families, and without the Foundation's generosity our patients and families would have had to carry more stress then they were already feeling. The Foundation is such a blessing for our patients, families, and Bereavement survivors.
As a professional Hospice Social Worker, it is difficult to find the words to describe how important and valuable the services Compassionate Care Hospice Foundation (CCHF) are, this is largely due to the positive emotional effect experienced by both the dying patients and their families. This organization has left an indelible mark on thousands of human beings. There are many people who have had their dying concerns eased simply through having the chance to see a distant loved one or having the financial stresses of the family eased.
The significance of this nonprofit can not simply equate to dollars. There is a human element that can not be measured and the services provided by CCHF have demonstrated an organization that is willing and knows the importance of thinking critically and is motivated to personalize the assistance offered to dying patients and their families. Tickets have been bought for children so that they could spend last moments with family members and patients able to travel to their country of origin have had CCHF's compassionate understanding so that they could be buried on their native soil.
One of the invaluable outcomes of CCHF's involvement is experienced by the elderly survivor of expired patients. Paying one months rent for someone who has been financially dependent upon their significant other's income sometimes for over 50 years has been a godsend for people living close to the poverty line and a check away from homelessness. Lastly, the look of gratitude and appreciation patients and their families positively affected by the efforts of CCH helps to make a difficult job that much more rewarding.
Being terminally ill evokes many difficult emotions and worries for patients and their loved ones. Financial hardship, loss of independence and concern about having to leave the comfort of home are major stressors. I have witnessed how the CCH Foundation has relieved these worries and allowed patients to remain at home by providing financial assistance for emergency response systems and household expenses so that loved ones could take time off work to provide care and not worry about falling behind on basic costs of living. The Foundation has also granted some special requests, specifically focused on enhancing quality of life when life is coming to an end. Hospice care focuses on comfort, and the Foundation takes it a step further by providing financial assistance to help patients enjoy the comfort of home when facing the end of life.
As the director for a community hospice in South Jersey I have had the opportunity to see how the Compassionate Care Hospice foundation has helped numerous hospice patients and their family's. Although I am often not able to directly see the impact of there wonderful support, I am able to experience it through our hospice team who care for our fragile patients and family's. Every day the CCHF does so many of the things you may expect a foundation to assist with: payment of rent, utilities or even an air conditioner during one of our many heat waves. But it is the ways in which the foundation goes above and beyond which really makes there mark for our patients and family's. It may include things some of us would take for granted like arranging transportation so a patient can enjoy a professional baseball game, or something much more significant and meaningful such as honoring a patients last wish to return to their native country.
This past summer a 93 year old woman sat in her apartment where the temperatures fluctuated between 90 and 100 degrees many days. She did not complain. She asked for nothing. As a medical social worker charged with the responsibility of helping those with little resources left, I contacted CCHF. Many patients are near life's end and very uncomfortable. Compassionate Care Hospice Foundation ensured an air conditioner would be delivered to her apartment. They made this woman believe in Santa again!! Her eyes lit up when the cool air made living less uncomfortable. She was so happy, so grateful. Simple things we all take for granted become special gifts to those who need a break at the time of their life when only days remain. Rozie and the staff at CCHF are special and many of us truly believe that at nights end they do not need cars to go home. They have wings because they are ANGELS....so special and so helpful. God Bless Them
Working as a social worker in any field, you know how challenging it can be to find resources for families in need. The Compassionate Care Hospice Foundation is such a valuable resource, as they are able to help so many of the families with which we come into contact. So often, the assistance that is awarded contributes greatly to our patient quality of life and helps maintain many of these patients in their homes. I am extremely thankful to have access to such a wonderful resource to help meet the needs of our patients that cannot be met in their immediate community. Thank you Compassionate Care Hospice Foundation!!!
As a hospice social worker, I see sad stories ALL the time. The crew at the Foundation have helped with some extraordinary situations....like the young girl who lost both her father and step-father in the same year....the Foundation came through with Summer Camp money AND rent for she and her Mom snd School Clothing cash!!!
Or the lady who was living with her husband and able to "Just Make" all of her expenses....The Foundation came through with monthly expenses so that there was cash for the couple to enjoy the patient's last Christmas with their first Grandchild for her first Christmas...the baby and her mom needed to drive through So Carolina to Penna and needed cash to get there....
Or the young couple who was behind on mortgage and utilities and property taxes because our pt (age 42) could not work and her husband lost his job because of needing to care for his wife. The husband spent the pt's last month taking care of her at home and didn't need to worry about how he would get through.....
CCH Foundation has been a tremendous support for several clients I work with. Rozie & staff are kind, understanding, patient & resourceful when it comes to meeting the needs of the patients. It's a relief to know an organization such as this is available to help at such a crucial time in one's life.
The Foundation has help countless terminally ill patients and their families with basis life needs such as rent or mortgage payment, utility payments, home repairs related to patient and family safety, helping patients accomplish that "one last thing" that they otherwise could not do. As a Board member and a Hospice Program Director I see first hand where every donated dollar goes and, believe me, every dollar makes an incredible difference in the lives of patients and their caregivers. Almost all my staff donated to the Foundation through payroll deduction because, they to see the results of Foundation help first hand. Patricia Heiland