Volunteer Opportunities

Summa Health Hospice Volunteers only know one way of giving – with both hands, with all their hearts and without a second thought.

Our Summa Health At Home Hospice staff and volunteers work together to provide the following specialized programs and services to help patients and families.

You may choose one or more of these opportunities where you can help our patients and families directly:

• Bereavement Callers. Place support calls to bereaved family members and provide a listening ear and words of encouragement.
• Bereavement Companions. Provide support to bereaved family members with regular visits to help make their transition into life without their lost loved a bit less overwhelming.
• Floral Delivery Volunteers. Brighten a patient’s day by delivering donated flowers on their birthday.
• Gifts of a Lifetime: Legacy Writers. Record a written or electronic autobiographical journal of a patient’s life stories.
• Gifts of a Lifetime: Storyboard Creators. Work together with the patient and family to create a poster collage of the patient’s photos and memories.
• Inpatient & Family Services Volunteers. Provide for the non-clinical compassionate needs of patients and their families on the Palliative Care Units at Summa Health System – Akron and Barberton Campuses.
• Music Ministry Volunteers. Share your musical talents with patients in their homes, extended care facilities, or on the Palliative Care Units.
• Patient Companion Volunteers. Visit with the patient by sharing conversation, playing cards, holding their hand, or simply being a caring presence.
• Pet Food Delivery, Dog Walking, & Pet Clean-up Volunteers. As part of the Summa Health Pet Peace of Mind Program, deliver pet food and kitty litter to a patient's home, walk their dog and remove waste from the yard or litter box.
• Respite Volunteers. Provide patients’ families with greatly needed breaks from caregiving.
• Spiritual Companion Volunteers. Provide spiritual support to hospice patients & family members under the direction of a Hospice Spiritual Care Coordinator (SCC).
• Threshold Choir. Bring ease and comfort to those at the thresholds of living and dying by singing with two to four others at the bedsides of our patients.
• Tuck-in Volunteer Nurse. Place calls to our patients and families from our hospice administrative office and "tuck them in" for the weekend. Requires nursing licensure.
• Veteran Pin Volunteers. As part of our We Honor Veterans program, recognize and honor a veteran patient’s service to our country by presenting them with a pin and certificate.
• Vigil Volunteers. Provide patients with a quiet presence, and families with peace of mind, during the patient’s final hours of life by sitting with the patient so the patient does not die alone.

If you don't wish patient contact, you can still help indirectly by volunteering in our Summa At Home administrative offices located in North Akron or from your own home! These volunteer opportunities include:

• Office Volunteers. Help with patient/bereavement chart filing, assembly and maintenance, data entry, mailings and a variety of other tasks.
• Caring Cards Volunteers. Create cards to mail to our bereaved family members on the one-year anniversary of their loved one’s death as well as for patient birthdays and other occasions.
• Caring Cuisine Volunteers. Prepare a treat to share with our families staying with loved ones on our Palliative Care Units.
• KeepSake Pillow Volunteers. Create handmade pillows from clothing of the hospice patient, giving the family and friends a memento to treasure.
• Sewing/Knitting Project Volunteers. Craft handmade items for patients such as walker bags neck pillows, adult bibs, elbow comfort pillows, Cozy Kittys, Prayer shawls or lap blankets.

Did you find an area where you would like to help?