2011 Annual Report - Brattleboro Area Hospice
Transcription
2011 Annual Report - Brattleboro Area Hospice
Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved B ereavement Care: The R esilience of L ove Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report Ta b l e of Contents From the Board President and Executive Director............................................................. 4 Cover Story – Bereavement Care: The Resilience of Love................................................ 5 Hallowell: Songs for Hospice and Healing........................................................................12 Hurricane Irene: The Challenge and the Response.........................................................16 Wild Night on the Catwalk..............................................................................................18 2011 Annual Service of Remembrance at the Hospice Memorial Garden...................... 23 2011 Program and Volunteer Overview............................................................................24 Experienced Goods Thrift Shop...................................................................................... 30 Experienced Goods Home Furnishings.............................................................................32 Staff and Board of Directors.............................................................................................33 2011 Donors..................................................................................................................... 34 2011 Financial Statement................................................................................................. 40 Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 1 Brattleboro Area Hospice 191 Canal Street Brattleboro, VT 05301 802-257-0775 ❖ telephone 1-800-579-7300 ❖ toll free in Vermont brattleborohospice.org ❖ website [email protected] ❖ email Experienced Goods Thrift Shop 77 Flat Street Brattleboro, VT 05301 802-254-5200 ❖ telephone Brattleboro Area Hospice is an independent, communitybased, nonprofit volunteer hospice organization. We are funded by our thrift store sales, individual donations and memorials, United Way of Windham County, grants and local towns. Financial contributions of any size to Brattleboro Area Hospice are appreciated and are tax deductible. By establishing memorial gifts in honor of a loved one, remembering us in your will, or making a stock donation, you can help further our work. Please contact us at 802257-0775 or 1-800-579-7300 for more information on the many ways you can donate to Brattleboro Area Hospice. 2 Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved Brattleboro Area Hospice 191 Canal Street, Brattleboro, VT Our mission is to provide non-medical assistance to the terminally ill and their loved ones; to provide bereavement services to Hospice families and the community; and to educate others about the issues of death and dying. All our services are free of charge. ❖ Hospice Care Program Trained volunteers and staff work with patients and their families to address the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs that are associated with death and dying. Our Hospice Program serves patients who have a prognosis of one year or less; the Pathways Program is for home-care patients with a prognosis of two years or less who may choose to receive curative therapies. ❖ Bereavement Care Program Adjusting to life without a loved one is difficult. Bereavement services are an important part of hospice care and help people understand grief as a normal process. Support groups, limited individual support and our bereavement newsletter Seasons are available to surviving Hospice family members as well as anyone in our community. ❖ Community Education We are a community resource on the issues of death, dying and grieving. Hospice and bereavement trainings are open to everyone whether or not they choose to volunteer. We are available to speak to local groups and businesses, and offer trainings and inservices to medical professionals. Our lending library is open to the public with over 650 books, tapes and videos. Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 3 Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit. ~ Bern William Dear Friends, Our Bereavement Care Coordinator Elizabeth Pittman often suggests an exercise to clients, recommending that each day they write down one blessing and one challenge. This helps acknowledge the pain they are feeling, yet also recognizes that there are moments of blessing that can give comfort and strength. Hospice and bereavement work is the embodiment of this exercise. Each day, our volunteers and staff bear witness to the grief, loss and pain that come from a death. And yet, amidst these intense challenges, they can witness the blessings of deep love, of a dedicated family, and of the quiet resilience within someone facing the end of their life. In the spirit of Elizabeth’s exercise, we share two extraordinary events, one a challenge and one a blessing, our organization experienced in the past year. In the fall of 2011, we withstood the challenge of Hurricane Irene’s flooding, which severely damaged Experienced Goods, our major fundraiser. Through the strength of dedicated staff, many compassionate volunteers and the generosity of our donors, we have made it through this ordeal, remaining strong and able to continue our work in the community. No one could ask for a more unique and remarkable event than Wild Night on the Catwalk! Team Décor, an incredibly talented and dedicated group of volunteers, created a magical November evening of creativity and fun, all the while raising funds to support our work. The occasion was a spectacular success: an opportunity for us to gather and remember that despite our challenges, there can be moments of lightness and play celebrating the exuberance of life. As we look back at this remarkable year, we bear witness to the extraordinary resilience of our clients, volunteers, staff and our community. The blessings of our deep connection and commitment to each other gave us strength to overcome the adversity we faced together in 2011, and ability to meet whatever challenges this current year will bring. Greg Moschetti Susan Parris PresidentExecutive Director 4 Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved Bearing Witness: The Resilience of Love An interview with Elizabeth Pittman S ince 1994, Brattleboro Area Hospice has been fortunate to have Elizabeth Pittman overseeing our Bereavement Care Program. Elizabeth has provided wise and compassionate care for thousands of people who have come to us in the midst of grieving the loss of someone they loved, through counseling individuals and families, in addition to facilitating numerous support groups. On the eve of retiring, she sat down to share stories and wisdom from her years of bearing witness to how resilient we can be despite the pain of loss. Several years into doing this work, I came across a chapter called “Heartbreakthrough.” Though the book was about improvisation & creativity and not intended to be about grief, I felt this heading summed up what I saw over and over again: that for many, the experience of heartbreak led to breakthroughs in how people understood and lived their lives. One of the gifts of this work is that I have really gotten to witness resilience in people. There was one man who was so heartbroken after his wife died. I first met him a few months after her death and he would cry at every support group meeting; they’d been together for five decades and he was missing her terribly. Eventually though the tears began to dry up and the good memories were interspersed with the difficult ones. He started volunteering around town and about 2 ½ years later he brought his girlfriend by; they were about to take a trip and he wanted me to meet her. I’ve run a lot of support groups and that’s been a real blessing in a lot of ways. When a support group is really working, I get to witness people supporting each other, and finding that their most difficult challenging moments and stories are really helpful for other people to hear. I was touched by the moment in a group when a man brought knitting that his beloved had made and looking at it made him really sad. She died of cancer at age 37. His mother had died also at the same age of cancer. He had been having dreams and sometimes it was this woman or sometimes his mother would show up, and wondering about this kept him coming to the group. The knitting had two balls of yarn that were still connected to it, though they were knotted off. He said ‘it’s something she Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 5 was working on that’s incomplete, and her life was an incomplete life. That makes me feel really sad for her’. Somebody sitting across from him said ‘hold it up’, and he did, and it was a beautiful woven rectangle. It’s true that her intention was for it to be the back of a sweater, but it looked like a completed rectangle with those two balls of yarn still connected. The woman sitting across from him said, ‘I understand that you see this as something incomplete, but I look at it and see these colors that would make a beautiful wall hanging.’ This had never occurred to him. It really shifted his point of view about it. He said, ‘well you know, I think I could cut these two pieces of yarn off now.’ A teacher in the group had a pair of those blunt nosed scissors like he would have used at seven years of age, the age he was when his mother died, and he took them and cut the yarn and had a wall hanging. That’s a little crystallization moment of how we can carry something we’ve been seeing from a particular perspective and then receive the gift of the other perspectives from the group. In another support group, there was a woman who had two daughters who had lost their father. It happened to be the only day those two school aged girls came to our office with their mother. They settled in our library with reading and drawing materials. A man in the group had written a song for his father that he felt ready to share, so when he got his guitar out to sing for the group, the mother asked if the girls could join us because the oldest daughter had been learning guitar from her father just before his death. After singing his song, the man taught the girl some guitar chords. It was an incredibly sweet moment. 6 While that fellow is a musician, there are people who don’t necessarily consider themselves poets or musicians or gardeners but they create something because grief is such a heart opening experience and they want to capture it in some way. There was a woman that came to us who was in such a locked up place when I first met with her that she could barely speak. She showed no emotion on her face and was in such a dark place because of the loss of a child. Monosyllables were the most she could get out of her mouth, until I asked her if she had done any drawing or artwork. She said she loved that when she was a kid and we went down the hall and got out art materials, and as soon as she started collaging and drawing her story poured out. Many bereaved people experience shock or numbness soon after a death; surrounded by family and friends, they put one foot in front of another and manage to plan and get through the memorial service. When family and friends return to their lives, there are still Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved paperwork and things to take care of, but at some point there is a kind of let down. It’s a little bit like having Novocain and then, when it wears off, everything feels raw. It hits some people harder than others, and some people later than others. From the perspective of a helping volunteer or professional, this gives us an opportunity to reassure bereaved people that there’s nothing wrong with them and they’re not doing it wrong. Paradoxically, being in that raw place indicates that they are moving along. We let clients know, ‘Now it’s time to be gentle with yourself and to find more acceptance of wherever you are, even if it’s a very difficult place to be.’ And we are here to help with these difficult times. When grieving, I think there is an expectation that little by little things will get better and better. I think a more useful model is to think that things will come in waves — sometimes you feel like you are on top of things and on the crest of the wave, and sometimes you feel you’ve been thrown back to square one. This can really upset people, they feel like, ‘Haven’t I been grieving for months? And now it feels like it’s all new and I’m starting over.’ This is why we follow up with people for more than a year: you don’t know what is going to be the trigger for that upsurge in grief. It might be the time of year, a holiday or special occasion, or running into someone you haven’t seen in a long time that hasn’t heard about the death, and it can take you by surprise. There’s a way we have an embodied memory of what’s happened in our lives that really can awaken awareness in us. People sometimes feel bad that they’re remembering the loss months or years later, as if it means they didn’t grieve right the first time. Any kind of big change in our life, not just a death loss, can wake up some experiences that have lain dormant for a while. If you can see it in a positive light, it gives us the opportunity to integrate things from a more mature place. If people are showing up in your dreams or you think you see them in the distance, just pay attention: your psyche is knocking on the door and saying I want you to notice this. And you can notice it by writing things down, or talking to a friend or a minister, to one of us here at Hospice, or by coming to one of our support groups. One practice I suggest is a simple writing exercise: each day write one thing that has been a blessing and one that has been a challenge. Not every blessing, not every challenge. I’m not a Pollyanna who’s just saying “count your blessings,” on the other hand, it can drag you down to dwell only on the challenges in your life and the hills you have to climb. Both of these are in your life, even if it’s weighted in one direction or another at the moment. Often with blessings it can be really small things but it’s about recognizing them: the robins are back, the crocuses are up, I had my favorite cup of tea this morning, a stranger smiled at me today just when I needed it. We don’t honor transitions, which is why grieving people ask, ‘why is this taking so long? I have an expectation of how this is supposed to be going and it is not going that way.’ It’s important to find a way to slow down and realize this is where you are right now. Loving yourself right there in the middle of the mess, the chaos and changes, may help you begin to find your way into whatever the next step is in your life. It’s quite an honor to hold a person’s hand and walk along with them when they are experiencing this. Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 7 So Little Left Writing Responses to Grief Part of the pleasure of writing, as well as the pain, is involved in pouring into that thing which is being created all of what [I] cannot understand, cannot say, cannot deal with or cannot even admit in any other way. ~Ralph Ellison, quoted in Jill Krementz, The Writer’s Desk Writing a letter to a loved one who has died is one way to sort through our feelings and memories. Anne Brener in Mourning and Mitzvah: A Guided Journal for Walking the Mourner’s Path Through Grief to Healing* suggests: “It might be helpful to look at a picture of the deceased before writing the letter. Allow yourself to absorb the image and the feelings the picture generates within you. If you already know what needs to be said, just begin writing.” If not, she offers many partial sentences to complete of which the following are only a few. In losing you I feel that I have lost …………… The biggest surprise has been ………………… The hardest thing has been …………………… I am most grateful for ………………………….. In Part Of Me Died, Too: Stories Of Creative Survival Among Bereaved Children And Teenagers*, author Virginia Fry says, “When change and loss come into our lives and take some of our dreams away, it is important to create new hopes and wishes.” She suggests writing a “Fears and Hopes” poem that answers the questions “What are you afraid might happen?” and “How can you stay hopeful when you are scared?” *Both of these books—and many others on grief—are available in the Hospice Lending Library. 8 When he died there was so little left behind: two well worn hats a denim jacket frayed at elbow and at cuff three pairs of boots long sculpted to his feet. At his desk, a few good pens a wooden ruler rubber bands and paper clips in an old tin box an ancient clip board I remember from twenty years ago. In the right hand drawer, a brand new cowhide wallet slim and elegant still in the box it came in as a present two pairs of bifocals both slightly scratched a list of repairs to make in the next month that never came I wanted to give each of his children something uniquely his as if an object could keep him in their hearts as if their memories were not enough as if her nose, his eyes, did not carry the stamp of who he was I found his ancient wallet, threadbare, polished with the sweat of his hands Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved and one small ivory pocket knife carried in the front right pocket for close to 60 years For three years I kept his hat and jacket in my closet For three years I could press it to my face to find his smell again This year as spring arrived, that too was gone I walk through the rooms we lived in for so long and what I touch and see and hold of him is the gift his presence gave No object could encompass the heart that held me dear ~Cielle Tewksbury I wish that I knew more of my father’s stories. I brought his wallet with me tonight. It’s a snapshot of who he was when he died– especially the spot where he kept his family pictures. He told a story one time when my friend Marilyn was visiting in 1995. He first met my mother when she was in Brattleboro at the library– for him it was love at first sight. He knew he wanted to marry her. He had a piece of paper that she wrote her address on. He folded the paper and put it in his wallet. The paper stayed there until it fell apart and then he copied it onto another piece of paper and stuck it behind the picture of her he always carried. In the picture she must be the age when they first met. I remember Marilyn in tears. She could always cry a lot easier then I can. She thought the story was the most romantic one she ever heard. He told us a little about his growing up years. Poor, traveled around VT and NH a lot with a father who was a logger and drank too much. When it was the 50th anniversary of WWII he told us that he was part of a group of soldiers that liberated a Jewish concentration camp. He would not speak much of the war. Once I remember an old WWII type plane flew over the house– Dad was up on a ladder and he jumped off the ladder and threw himself on the ground. I was a young kid at the time and it scared me. He told us a funny story about being in Germany during the war. They came across an old still in the Vineyards. When they tried to get it going it blew up and gave their position away to the Germans. Most of this time Dad was just this quiet presence who worked hard, took care of and enjoyed his family. I only remember one spanking he gave me– after I hit my sister over the head with a coke bottle. If I got really quiet I would see that I am afraid of being alone– of being last. ~ Jane Wheeler Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 9 Witnessing the Unfolding of Grief Marilyn Buhlmann has been volunteering with Brattleboro Area Hospice bereavement clients for seven years. She sat down on a spring morning recently to share her experiences and the wisdom gained from years of paying attention to loss and grief. My heart is with people who are struggling with loss. After a death people understand you’re sad for a few weeks and then they just don’t want to hear it. So it’s really critical for people experiencing a loss to have a place to come for as long as they need. I have had a lot of loss in my life. I lost my mom in my 30s and was able to quit my job, take her out of the hospital and be with her in the last few weeks of her life. The hole in my life from losing my mom was just amazing to me. At that point, most of my friends my age were still struggling in their relationships with their parents. I realized that people out in the world were not ready to deal with grief. Unless someone had experienced it, they just didn’t want to hear it, or to see that I was dragging around this aching wound. And so I came to Brattleboro Area Hospice and joined a support group, and it was just so wonderful to have a place to talk about this huge loss. I think every time I meet with a bereavement client I’m able to learn something about myself. The kind of listening you do in bereavement is not the same kind of listening you do all the time. I need to be aware of myself and how things are impacting me. I sit and listen and focus on this other person and not judge them or myself. It gives you a chance to learn about yourself and at the same time be fully present with someone else. I don’t think there are 10 many occasions, unless you’re a therapist, where you get to practice this experience. I will want to say something, and then I’ll think, ‘it’s not about you Marilyn. Pay attention. You can think about yourself later, but right now focus on the person you’re with.” When I need to talk about whatever is going on with a client, being able to call Elizabeth or Muriel [Bereavement staff] is really wonderful. I don’t feel like I’m out there all alone. There isn’t a bad question you can ask. And if you’re being open and responsive to the bereavement client, you need to allow there to be that kind of care for yourself, too. Bereavement can be complicated. I had one client who had been a victim of abuse from their family member and they were the one, bless their heart, who was the primary caregiver. Here was someone caring for a dying person who had been really cruel to them years before, so the caregiver’s grief after their death was very different, and they had very different needs. I would say to them “it’s amazing that you took your life experiences, and rather than turning them back on your family member, you found a place in your heart for them.” There are often very mixed and very painful memories that come out. There are always conflicting emotions. We can find forgiveness and acceptance and move beyond those memories. Just through the act of listening, it’s amazing to watch it unfold. Something starts around tension, anger or sadness, and then like a flower you witness that it expands. You don’t react to it. Certainly you listen and respond in kindness, but you don’t fix it. People talk about really hard emotions, and things that they may be ashamed about. Through listening Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved you discover common human experiences: we feel joy and we feel sadness, we feel pride in accomplishment and also deep shame. We feel all of them, they are not pathological, they are just experiences, and I like to see that unfolding over a period of time with somebody. I started out a lot more naive and wanting to take action in my early meetings because my first impulse was to make it better, and watching somebody dissolve into tears, I really had to control myself. But I learned to just let the grief—in fact let any emotion—flow, and not want it to go away. In fact, here is the place where people come and you don’t have to ‘get over it’, you can move through it. Grief is not something that goes away; it’s something you become accustomed to. There’s a place in your life that’s empty, and grieving takes its own time. in the world with it, so for an hour or more a week, you can be in a group or meet with a volunteer. You can share a loss over time, because the schedule that the rest of the world has about grief is not realistic. It’s great to honor the person you’ve lost and yourself by taking some time. Now might not be the right time, but know that at any point, you can have an experience that can lessen the pain that you have around a loss. I’ve been really blessed to be able to do this kind of work. I feel that this is the kind of work that I should be doing, it feels natural, and fortunately I can do it as a volunteer. It feels like the perfect match for me. You can come to Brattleboro Area Hospice and there are so many ways you can share and express your sense of loss. It’s so hard to be out Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 11 With Compassion in the Heart of our Song Some Hallowell Stories from Kathy Leo She crossed the street to reach me on the sidewalk in Brattleboro one spring day. Winter had receded. Brattleboro was humming with life the way it does on a day like this. She looked familiar but I couldn’t place her at first. Not until she introduced herself as Erica and reminded me that we had sung for her sister Carol twice before she died peacefully at home in her small cozy cabin behind the old farmhouse. It was in the heart of winter, I remembered. Our first visit was a sing on the small entry porch outside the cabin. The family was not quite sure they wanted the singers to be part of this death. They were closely tending their sister Carol and her young daughter, making choices that honored who she was and how she lived. Four of us sang on the porch, the front window cracked open just enough to let our sounds flow into Carol where she was bundled in comforters, a sister or two on either side of her. We buttoned up our down jackets and pulled our wool hats tightly over our ears as the bitter cold winter blew around us, lifting the pages of our music. We put our heads together and sang, hoping our songs would reach the hearts of this lovely family. We did not expect to be called back. The need for family privacy was clear to us. When the call came late one evening about a week later, we dropped everything and returned to the small cabin in the dark. This time we were welcomed in. We slipped quietly inside, stood in deep respect and comfort around Carol where she 12 seemed quiet and deep, unresponsive to those around her, in her own private peaceful place. Her breath was even and slow. She rested in a recliner, wrapped in a colorful quilt. We sang quietly and softly, songs to make a little bridge to help carry her over to the other side. Her sisters sat shoulder to shoulder on the couch. The light was dim and soft. Her mother slipped in and out of the room as if the music invited her gently into the space where her daughter was dying. The room was crowded with family and friends but in a quiet way. Through our songs, we were able to say, “We see you. We honor your life, and your journey towards death. We feel the love of this family. We are grateful to be here, witness to this miracle.” Erica told me this, on the sidewalk that spring day, months after her sister’s death. She told me that the family couldn’t decide about having the singers visit. They were reluctant to invite anyone into this space who might look upon their sister’s dying with pity. They did not want this journey to be seen as tragic. They wanted it to be a time of grace and beauty. An honoring of Carol’s life and spirit. And, she said, that is exactly what we felt from each of you as you sang around her and for all of us. You simply showed us compassion. You helped us feel the grace of our sister’s dying. She filled up with tears. So did I. We shared a moment of great tenderness, again. Hallowell continues to learn, stretch and grow as we are welcomed and embraced by Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved our community. There are too many stories to choose from, stories of family after family who have welcomed us into their private and intimate lives during a time of loss and grief. We are learning compassion. And how to communicate compassion through our presence and through our songs. I recently decided I wanted to look more closely at the word Compassion and what it means to each of us. What does it evoke to think deeply about compassion as part of our practice, as part of our daily lives. In recent workshops and during our rehearsal time, I invited people to consider what it means to be compassionate, and then to write down just a few words to describe their thoughts. We then filled a basket with these words, passed it around and read each other’s words, anonymously. It became a circle poem, with compassion at the heart of it. I want compassion to be at the heart of everything we say, do and choose. And sing of course. Here are some of the writings: • deep sensitivity to the needs of others • listening with your whole being • not judging, not trying to fix • just being there • caring and being with others wherever and whoever they are • being One in silence • being deeply with someone • the absence of “I” • seeing essence • acceptance and pure love • quiet presence • understanding that surpasses understanding • sharing passion, feeling, love, emotion • when one heart is willing to melt into another • compassion is the heart There is only compassion when we are fully present at a bedside. We stand in witness, trying to say through music what we feel. Through the sounds, the words we choose to sing, the feelings the music evokes, we offer compassion. Bridget was the matriarch of her Irish family. She was beloved and well known, a small but strong, fierce and funny, wonderful spirited woman in our community. When her granddaughter Darry called me to bring a group of singers to her bedside in the hospital, I was more than grateful to do so. What I didn’t know was that we were to receive, once again, that wonderful gift of witnessing the flow of love and connection of an extended family. And that it would open our hearts and teach us again what it means to feel deep compassion, without trying to change or “fix” what we are privileged to witness and be a small part of for a little while. Bridget was tiny in her hospital bed, wearing an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose though she still struggled to fill her fluid-filled lungs with breath. When we arrived, we found the family scattered around the halls and cafes of the hospital. The sing brought them all together around Bridget’s bed. She was completely surrounded by her family, adult children and grown grandchildren and their partners. We stood apart, well aware of our role as simply singers. This was our time to fill the room with songs that would hopefully say some of what the family wanted to say. All we had to do was to watch closely, to feel, to listen Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 13 with our hearts and then sing to that. Bridget’s daughter Oona asked us if we could sing something that would help her to “let go.” We sang, Love Call me Home, Sing to Me of Heaven, I Will Guide Thee. Songs in English. Songs the family could hear the message of. Bridget’s eyes were wide open, shining even. Bright with love and sparkle. Though we told her she might want to sleep while we sang. Rest in our sounds. But her spirit was lighting up the room. She was not going to miss a minute of this. She was wide awake. And she was fully with each member of her beloved family as they took turns lying with her, breaking down. Openly crying. A great flood of release happened as we sang with our hearts open. We were feeling open and compassionate and grateful for what we were invited to witness. There often comes a moment during a sing when we can feel the saturation point of grief. It might be time for one more song and then time to take our leave. We had reached that point at Bridget’s bedside. The family needed a rest, but they were not ready to let us go. Instead, Oona asked for a more uplifting song. We sang Parting Glass, a melodic Irish tune that speaks from the perspective of the one leaving the world, saying “goodnight and joy be with you all” to his or her beloveds. It turned out to be the perfect song. If Bridget’s eyes could have grown even brighter, they did. After that, I Still Have Joy fell from our lips and then a quiet hymn to leave everyone breathing softly, All Through the Night. Bridget’s family understood that the sing was a gathering of family, a time for their grief to rise up and find expression, a time for love and connection to flow between all of them. Oona later told me that she felt the sing was the true 14 funeral/memorial service for the family. It was a way to help the family say goodbye to Bridget. And granddaughter Darry wrote me this very loving note the day after our sing: Dear Kathy (and the singers!), Shortly after your sing by her bedside, Bridget slipped into a state of unconsciousness. She is still there, but it won’t be long until she finally passes. We are so grateful that her final moments of awareness were filled with so much beauty. I believe that she was guided to the other side on the wings of your music. I doubt you were looking at this particular moment, but when you began the Irish tune my aunt requested, Bridget’s face lit up and she smiled a very happy, very peaceful smile. It was amazing - like seeing her in her girlhood in Ireland. I’m sure you’ve heard all of this before, but the sing was so cathartic for all of us, and I’m sure that facilitated Bridget’s letting go. I remember when you were starting up the group, and I thought then that it was an amazing and powerful concept, but I could not have imagined the beauty and power until I experienced it myself. My family cannot stop talking about the sing. Please tell all the singers that they make the most beautiful music and their work is so sorely needed and so hugely appreciated. Best, Darry Hallowell is grateful to each and every family we are privileged to sing for. Those who die before us, who invite us to their bedside, teach us to live with compassion in our hearts. May we all know the meaning of compassion in our own lives and allow it to shape everything we do, say, think and sing. Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved 2011 Hallowell Singers ©Tom Goldschmid Mary Alice Amidon Robin Davis Kathleen Leo Beth Spicer Peter Amidon Jamie Eckley Beth Lukin Terry Sylvester Helen Anglos Hans Estrin Cathy MacDonald Harriet Tepfer Susan Barduhn Linda Evans Mike Mayer Burt Tepfer Margaret Dale Barrand Calvin Farwell KathyMichel Cindy Tolman Tony Barrand Tom Goldschmid Jonathon Morse Connie Woodberry Susan Bell Mark Grieco Patrice Murray Mary Cay Brass Annie Guion Karolina Oleksiw Fred Breunig Amy Harlow Susan Owings Lauren Breunig Tom Jamison Julie Peterson Ellen Crockett Valerie Kosednar Joan Shimer Larry Crockett Bonnie Kraft Walter Slowinski Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 15 Hurricane Irene: The Challenge and the Response The events of August 28, 2011 and its aftermath caused considerable pain and suffering through loss of life and property in Windham County. How we all came together in response to Hurricane Irene is a testimony to just how resilient we can be when challenged by a crisis. Experienced Goods Thrift Shop, our major fundraiser, was one of the businesses in downtown Brattleboro severely impacted by the storm. Floodwater damaged the walls, fixtures and approximately half of our retail goods. Witnessing the immediate and extraordinary response by our Store staff, our volunteers and the wider community was indeed awe inspiring. Karen Zamojski and Gemma Champoli, Store Managers, were quickly in control of the situation, and their incredible energy and organizing skills were critical to how well we adapted to this challenge. Store staff and hundreds of hospice and community volunteers also made a huge difference to our recovery, dedicating many hours clearing out damaged items and moving salvageable goods to new locations, including storage space donated by BDCC at the Book Press building. volunteers rose to the occasion. A heartfelt thank you to those who helped us through this disaster. Whether you physically helped us clean the damage, or restock and reopen, or donated funds to offset our losses, all of you made a big difference in our ability to recover from this crisis. The Store required professional cleaning due to silt and potential mold, and was closed for refurbishment until early October 2011. We then had to move our entire stock, as well as all equipment and fixtures, back into the space. Once again, our store staff and 16 Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved Some of the Many Volunteers who helped us after the flood. THANK YOU! Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 17 Wild Night on the Catwalk: Compassion for Fashion A Benefit for Brattleboro Area Hospice — November 19, 2011 On Saturday, November 19th, 2011 we witnessed something you rarely see in Vermont—true haute couture—which, according to Wikipedia, is “the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing… sewn with extreme attention to detail.” That’s right—setting aside our fleece and snow boots, Brattleboro Vermont joined the fashion world for the evening—living like a fashionista in New York City for the night. A breathtaking evening of fashion, food, music, originality and most of all fun was created by Brattleboro’s very own Team Décor, an incredibly dedicated and imaginative group of individuals who put the event together for the benefit of Brattleboro Area Hospice. This group of innovative and energetic volunteers provided an evening that went far beyond the dreams of all who attended. 18 We deeply appreciate all of the hard work of Team Décor, whose unending creativity and passion was truly awe inspiring. A big thanks to our many sponsors— your generosity was a key component for our success. We are also grateful to the many community members who donated their time and talent to the event, and of course a big thank you to the enthusiastic audience. Together we all experienced a once-in-a-lifetime magical evening! Team Décor Production Team Karen Abel Bette Abrams Jenny Amanna Lynn Barrett Quinn Cartelli Priscilla Cotton Lenai Crocker Marjorie Merena Mark Malloy Tim Mathiesen Kris McDermet Gina Pattison Patti Pusey Liz Richards Grady Smith Erik von Ranson Peter Welch Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved Sponsors Host Trust Company of Vermont William Vranos Orthopedics Wells Fargo Company of Vermont Silver Additional Donors Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Anonymous Bast Investment Company Chuck Cummings Fisher and Fisher Law Offices Merrill Gas Shearer Hill Farm Bed and Breakfast Gold Bronze Brattleboro Savings & Loan Association Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center Edward Jones Investments: Offices of Ana Saavedra & Philip A. George Entergy Vermont Yankee Members First Credit Union Pine Heights of Brattleboro The Richards Group The Windham Foundation Friends Connie Baxter and Greg Moschetti Bayada Hospice Brattleboro Subaru Elizabeth Catlin and Jared Flynn Holton Home Kris McDermet Rugs Newton Business NutroGenesis Palmiter Realty Group People’s United Bank Potter Stewart Law Offices Tracy Sloan, CPA Media Sponsors Brattleboro Reformer WKVT Radio WRSI Radio The Commons WTSA Radio SO Vermont Arts & Living The Putney School Randy Smith Jonathan Riseling Kevin Feal-Staub Mark Grieco James Wallace Sue Brearey Master of Ceremonies Monte Belmonte Red Carpet Host Desha Peacock Designers Truly Alvarenga Maia Bissette Rena Gerrior Benjamin Clark Cindy Leszcak Kris McDermet Pamela Moore Bridals Cynthia Nims Maria Pugnetti Alice Fagel Afterparty DJ DJ Nic (aka Disco Nic) Models Jess Abston Toni Baldi Maggie Bernhard Meyru Bhanti David Cadran Nancy Caldwell Samantha Connor Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 19 Lenai Crocker Alexis Dashas Molly Elsasser Kate Gautier Nicole Hastings Kiera Lewis Meg Luce Emily McGrath Angela Mooney Justine Perkins Shelley Rogers Rebecca Savage-Kepple Mallory Sawyer Shelby Sayer Anna Short Courtney Stancliff Carissa Stockwell Saliya Walker Hair & Make-up Artists Linda Barry- Cottage Hair Studio Ashley Bennett Liz Cruz Erin Engelhard- Jasmine Aesthetics Jean Gilbert Malaysia Goodnow - Peebles Dept. Store Melissa Grover Allison Herrington - Flashy Lash Studio Barbara Kinsman- Beck’s Studio Hair Salon Julie Mulholland Kelly Short - Beck’s Studio Hair Design Joanna Terry - Natural Beauty 20 Alisha Wilcox - Diane’s Hair Express Dianne Wrinn - Diane’s Hair Express Fashion Institute of Technology Exhibit Kyle Edmund PearsonCurator’s Choice First Place “Complete the Look” competition for FIT students Bruce Andrews of Shelburne Museum Event Consultant/Stage Manager Conrad Lamour - Fashion Designer, CEO of Providence Fashion Week and Boston En Vogue Auction Donors Peg Brown and Neil Senior Verde for Garden and Home Petria Mitchell Fireworks Restaurant G Housen Stephen Proctor Whitman’s Hair Design Joyce Sullivan Kris and Stewart McDermet Peter Havens Restaurant Mount Snow Cynthia Shulga/Timex Corp Ruth Unsicker Putnam Insurance Marta Bernbaum Mocha Joe’s Liz and Mark Richards Brattleboro Country Club Eric Sandstrum Burrows Specialized Sports Jared Smith The Marina Restaurant Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters Altiplano Mara Williams Oakes Erin Engelhard- Jasmine Aesthetics Renaissance Fine Jewelry Lynn Hoeft Lynn Barrett H&R Block Coach Leatherware Food Tristan Toleno Terri Ziter Sharon Myers Fine Catering Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved Our Lady of Fatima GuildWilmington Twin Valley Junior Iron ChefsLonny Paige, Director Matthew Cole, Coach Judy Huebner - Chesterfield Inn Kris McDermet Putney Inn Dar Tavernier-Singer Karen Abel Liz Richards Susan Talbot Judy Davidson First Student, Inc Green Mountain Tent Howard Printing, Inc Klondike Sound Company Linden Gardens Minuteman Press Motel 6 Peebles Department Store Putney Volunteer Fire Department Sandi Mann Staples Vermont Artisan Designs Zephyr Designs Bar Event Volunteers Avigliano Catering (division of Honora Winery) John Abel Betsy Bates Connie Baxter Pam Becker Bettina Berg Auction Promoters Carolyn Conrad Gay Maxwell Beth Kiendl David Woodberry Stewart McDermet Auction Vignette Art Carrie Simmons Falyn Arakelian Donna Scully Jen Wiechers Additional Support & In-Kind Donations John Brunelle & Son Construction Colonial Motel & Spa Costume Ladies Cultural Intrigue Susan Botelho Tony Botelho Gordon Bristol Jean Bristol Jen Carr Chris Chapman Kim Colligan David Cotton Biz Dana Judy Davidson Karen Duggan Ann Fiedler Jerry Forkin Jim Giddings Jon Gilcrest Harrel Hamilton Laura Haskins Karen Henry Linda Huebner Randy Jacobs Andrew MacFarland Dustin Manix Sandi Mann Jane Martin Theresa Masiello Jim Maxwell Greg McAllister Stewart McDermet Lisa McKenney Petria Mitchell Greg Moschetti Cynthia Nims Annamarie Pluhar Toby Price Rohan Providence Sherry Providence Ariel Redden Herb Rest Nick Rice Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 21 Mary Rosen Sara Ryan Jessica Shepley Don Skekel Jill Spiro Susan Talbot Dar Tavernier-Singer Lauren von Krusenstiern Special Thanks Cotton Design Associates, LLC Primetime Concepts, Inc, We Make the News Ad Vice Communications Specialists Brilliant Lighting, Design & Imaging Marjorie Merena/M2 EvRClear Audio, LLC Conrad Lamour Welch Masonry Grayson Digital Earl Paul Bonuam - logo ©Night Fantasy, a costume designed for Marjorie Merena by Earl Paul Program Design Carrie Ritson-Normandeau All Fashion Photos by: ©Kayley Hoddick 2011 22 Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved 2011 Annual Service of Remembrance at the Hospice Memorial Garden Our Memorial Garden, located in Brattleboro’s Living Memorial Park, is a source of contemplation, remembrance and beauty, and is one of the few gardens open to the general public in our community. Anyone is welcome to plant flowers to honor their loved ones who have died, either during our annual Service of Remembrance in early June or with the assistance of our garden volunteers. Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 23 2011 Program & Volunteer Overview Our Hospice Care Program provided volunteer services to 71 terminally ill patients and their families in 2011. One hundred and twenty six hospice care volunteers and 42 Hallowell volunteers spent 1,516 hours providing companionship and assistance to patients and their families. Many other volunteers donated their time to help Brattleboro Area Hospice in 2011: In 2011, our Bereavement Care Program served 448 bereaved Hospice family members and bereaved individuals from the community. Sixty six bereavement care volunteers, who are trained in issues such as the grieving process, listening skills and family dynamics, spent 168 hours working with families after the patient’s death. • 58 fundraising volunteers spent 3,593 hours in 2011 working at our thrift stores Experienced Goods & Experienced Goods Home Furnishings as salespeople and behind the scenes as sorters, steamers, carpenters and truckers. The Bereavement Care Program provided a total of 90 bereavement support groups throughout the year involving 246 participants and 68.5 volunteer hours. We offered the following support groups in 2011: • 44 volunteers spent 1,505 hours assisting with special projects such as training and education, in-services, outreach programs, our Memorial Garden, and other hospice activities. • 22 Board and administrative volunteers spent 288 hours assisting with the financial and administrative work of BAH. • Spring & Fall General Bereavement Support Groups • On-going Bereaved Parents Support Group • Summer Drop-In Support Group • Loss Writing Support Group • On-going Partner/Spouse Loss Support Group • On-going Suicide Loss Support Group • Coping with the Holidays Good Grief Children’s Group • Good Grief Teen’s Bookmaking Workshop ©Kathleen M. Carr 24 Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved 2011 Dia de los Muertos Community Altar Each November we create a Day of the Dead Community Altar to remember those who have died, following in the tradition of the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos. In 2011 the altar was once again created at Experienced Goods Home Furnishings at 51 Elliot Street. Community members and hospice families joined us to leave offerings (a picture, a favorite food, a poem) to honor their family and friends who have passed on, and to listen to the Hospice singing group Hallowell, who gather each year and sing songs of love and remembrance at the altar. Brattleboro Area Hospice Lending Library Our library contains over 650 books, audiotapes and videos on dying, death and grieving. We encourage you to stop by and borrow from this wonderful source of information and support. Donations of books or funds to our Lending Library are always welcome! Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 25 2011 Community Education and Events • • • • • • • • • • • • • “Art Helps the Heart” Wishing Tree Project Annual Hospice Memorial Garden Service of Remembrance Approaching the End of Life with Love & Grace- Hilltop House staff Art Helps the Heart: Creating Commemorative Valentines Art Helps the Heart: Creating Prayer Flags Bereavement Care Volunteer Training (One 7- week session, Fall) Dia De Los Muertos Community Altar Grieving Pre-Teen & Teens Bookmaking Workshop Hospice Care Volunteer Training (One 11- week session, Spring) Hospice presentation to Sojourns Community Health Clinic Spirituality and End-of-Life Care/Hospice Foundation of America Annual Teleconference Staff Support at Gathering Place Twice Monthly On-Going Caregivers Support Group at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital 2011 Volunteer Inservices • Art Workshop with Artist and Volunteer Helen Hawes • Boundaries and the Volunteer’s Role, Workshop with Manny Mansbach • Endings and Rememberings: a time to remember with stories or mementos, clients who have died during the year. • Funerals: Traditional and Alternative. What is Possible (Wellness in Windham County) • Healing Walk at Manitou • Hospice and Palliative Care Council of Vermont’ Annual Conference at Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, various workshops on death & dying attended by staff & volunteers • Simple Gift of Personal Care with Kris McDermet • Whose Death Is It Anyway?-Advance Directives/video & discussion 26 Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved We worked with the following organizations and community groups in 2011: AIDS Project of Southern Vermont Area psychotherapists & physicians All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church Alzheimer’s Association Anna Marsh Behavioral Care Center (AMBCC) Atamaniuk Funeral Home Austine School for the Deaf Bayada Nurses Brattleboro Area Baha’i Community Brattleboro Area Jewish Community Brattleboro Food Co-Op Brattleboro Master Gardeners Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Town of Brattleboro Parks and Recreation Town of Brattleboro, Town Manager’s Office Brattleboro Reformer Brattleboro Retreat Brattleboro Union High School Center for Health & Learning The Commons Compassionate Friends Cooley-Dickinson Hospital The Gathering Place Guilford Cares Grace Cottage Hospital Guilford Community Church HCRS Hilltop House Holton Home Hospice & Palliative Care Council of Vermont (HPCCV) Hospice Care Services of Keene Hospice of Franklin County Interfaith Initiative Kurn-Hattin Landmark College The Latchis Theater Leland & Gray Union Middle & High School The Manitou Project Marlboro College Graduate Center Marlboro College Health Center Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Lebanon, NH Phoenix House, Tapestry & RISE women’s programs Pine Heights Putney Cares Putney Fire Department Rescue, Inc. RSVP Samaritans, Inc. of Keene, NH St. Michael’s Episcopal Church Senior Solutions Thompson House Town Nurse, Wilmington United Way of Windham County VA Community Outpatient Clinic, Brattleboro Valley Cares Vernon Green Nursing Home Vernon Hall Veterans Administration Medical Center, WRJ Visiting Nurses of VT/NH VNA & Hospice of SVHC, Bennington, VT VNA & Hospice of Chittenden & Grand Isle counties: Camp Knock-Knock WTSA WKVT Youth Services Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 27 2011 Volunteers 2011 Bereavement Volunteers Eve Baker Jessica Barnes Katherine Barratt Bettina Berg Marilyn Buhlmann Betty Chamberlin Heather Chaudoir Elizabeth Christie Joanne Clark Rick Cowan Trudy Crites Natalie Donovan Jesse Einermann Robyn Flatley Joan Geneseo Laury Greening Carolyn Gregory Jennifer Hall Helen Hawes Karen Hesse Stephen Hill Claudette Hollenbeck J. Parker Huber Cindy Hutcheson Hope Jinishian Flynn Johnson Carolyn Kasper Aylanah Katz Lerna Lynn Martin Joy McCarrick Stewart McDermet 28 Lauri Miner Petey Mitchell Lorna Mitchell John Nopper, Jr. Jane Noyes Loretta Palazzo Toby Price Mary Quinn Sara Ryan Bill Schmidt Eva Shelby Dawn Slade Shirley S. Squires Jim Stasunas Ann Stockwell Cielle Tewksbury Suzette Theodorou Annie Thompson Donna Trumbull Steven Walton Ellenka Wasung-Lott Elsa Waxman Suzanne Weinberg Cheryl Wilfong Phillip Wilson Muriel Winter Wolf 2011 Hospice Care Volunteers Mary Adams Catherine Amarante Natalie Baker Merrill Linda Barry Betsy Bates Connie Baxter Richard Beach Joan Benneyan Bettina Berg Damaris Bernhard Susan Botelho Jean Bristol Sandra Brodsky Debbie Brookes Leni Brown Patricia Burleson Kathy Burris Betty Chamberlin Michelle Cherrier Penfield Chester Elizabeth Christie Jean Ciannavei Joanne Clark Helen Cornman Tim Cowles Susie Crowther Donna Curtis Lori Daniels Elaina Denney Lois Diorio Natalie Donovan Cassandra Ehrlich Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved Richard Ewald Ann Fielder Jennifer Fitzgerald Trudi Flannery Robyn Flatley Mike Fleming Susie Fletcher Marshall Glickman Carol Greenberg Carolyn Gregory Jennifer Hall Elizabeth Harlow Helen Hawes Melissa Hays Susan Hebson Cal Heile Dan Heller Stephen Hill Rob Hinrichs Claudette Hollenbeck J. Parker Huber Cindy Hutcheson Susan Jacobowitz Flynn Johnson Carolyn Kasper Aylanah Katz Ruth Kibby Michelle Kilduff Wendy Killian Judith Kinley Gloria Klein Robbie Kresch George Lagro Brenda Lawrence Kathleen Leo Lerna Kathryn Longbotham Ed Maloney Robin Mathiesen Greg McAllister Joy McCarrick Kris McDermet Stewart McDermet Hollis Melton Judi Mills Lorna Mitchell Petey Mitchell Greg Moschetti Janet Murano Ryan Murphy Ursula Nadolny Beth Newman John Nopper, Jr. Jane Noyes Karolina Oleksiw Sandie Page Peggy Partridge Annamarie Pluhar Bradley Poster Sandra Powers Karen Pratt Toby Price Vikki Putnam Mary Quinn Dana Renault Coni Richards Lauri Richardson Laura Robertson Joanna Rueter Sara Ryan Jane Sbardella Monica Scherman Bill Schmidt Rebecca Seymour Eva Shelby Daniel Sicken Shirley S. Squires Ann Stockwell Lee Stookey Ann Switzer Eleanor Temple Burt Tepfer Jan Terk Cielle Tewksbury Suzette Theodorou Chris Triebert Francine Vallario Carrie Walker Elsa Waxman Suzanne Weinberg Ted White Cheryl Wilfong Phillip Wilson Susan Wilson Jayne Wood Mary Wright 2011 Shop Volunteers Paul and Carol Adkins Spoon Agave Suzie Anderson Jennifer Anger Katherine Barratt Lavonne Betts Aleda Bliss Tony Botelho Betsy Bousquet Veronica Brelsford Tim Brockel Becky Butler Alex Cain Michael Carey John Case Justin Clough Rachel CohenRottenberg Jackie Connors Evan Cross Susie Crowther Shirley Cutler Jeanne Czuy SharonDunn Jonathan Flaccus Arlene Gray Kristin Haislett Alyssa-Ann Hamel Sue Haskins Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report Bob Henry Diane Hill Linda Huebner Tina Hutchins Jack Jackson Connie Kimball Jessica Kingsbury Laurie Kwader George Lagro Cassie Lavallee Stewart McDermet Nancy McIsaac Kelli Moran Laura Mullen Jan Ori Wesley Pittman Neil Senior Mary Siano Deborah Silver Lilly Sollberger Marty Spencer Becky Steele Josh Steele Doris Stephens Harriet Tepfer Hilly Van Loon Craig Vinton James Wagenhauser Joan Wells Emmy Whistler 29 2011 Special Projects Volunteers Karen Abel Patricia Austin Katherine Barratt Connie Baxter Gordon Bristol Jean Bristol Marilyn Buhlmann Penfield Chester Joanna Clark Helen Cornman Susie Crowther Karen Davis Noel Dery Ann Fielder Robyn Flatley Hallowell Singers Helen Hawes Cindy Hutcheson George Lagro Ruth Lane Charlie LaRosa Kathy Leo Kris McDermet Stewart McDermet Lynn Martin Theresa Masiello Hollis Melton Cynthia Nims Janes Noyes Janet Phoenix Wesley Pittman Patti Pusey Mary Quinn Mary Rivers Sara Ryan Shirley Squires Steve Squires Jim Stasunas Doris Stephens Ann Switzer Doug Switzer Elizabeth Ungerleider Carrie Walker Steve Walton Experienced Goods Thrift Shop By Ellen Graham “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them- that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in any way they like.” Lao Tzu The past year has seen a number of changes for Experienced Goods, both planned and unplanned. The closure of the popular home furnishing store on Elliot Street, shortened hours at the Flat Street location, and reductions in shop staff are among the former, while the changes brought by hurricane Irene are examples of the latter. Although the two kinds of changes are different in intent and purpose, the end result is still change, whether it is chaotic or meticulously drafted. 30 “If good happens, good. If bad happens, good.” Lao Tzu I was on my maternity leave when Irene struck, but I watched with mounting dismay the footage available on social media as Brattleboro citizens shared video of the rising water on Flat Street. Many thoughts raced through my mind, for the shop, my coworkers and the organization. I tried to calculate the loss but was quickly overwhelmed. Seeing the store in its post flood state was a shock. It was hard to remember how it looked before, and more difficult than that to imagine how it could be salvaged. However, in what would become a defining theme of the days after Irene, a community emerged to rebuild what Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved had been lost. The staff and volunteers of the shop worked together, braving the “flood mud” to sort, salvage or remove every item in the store, a huge undertaking. After the cleaning was complete, the store had to be pieced back together, and then replenished with merchandise. Using the empty space as a blank slate, the staff made some changes to the layout, and the resulting changes in flow and light have been the focus of much praise from our customers. What had seemed impossible had been achieved. Thanks to the volunteers, staff and donors The Goods had risen again. “Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?” Lao Tzu After putting a store back together, it was not long before staff and volunteers were taking another store apart. The home furnishings shop on Elliot Street was closed in the early part of 2012, one of the measures taken to strengthen the resources to the main fundraising efforts of Experienced Goods. The store was beautiful and well enjoyed by the community, and its staff took time and care to maintain a lovely atmosphere, even in the final days. At the Flat Street location, we hope to carry on some of the magic these talented people brought to the table. Along with the loss of the Elliot Street shop and staff, our volunteer coordinator, Sarah Rice, has moved on. She did so much great work, expanding her role and position in ways that benefited the shop and organization tremendously. Sarah will be greatly missed by all of us here at the shop, and leaves behind some mighty shoes to fill. We are looking forward to the future here at Experienced Goods. New faces, new changes, and new growth are an inevitable part of life, necessary to prevent stagnation. Perhaps we wish the coming year to be more orderly, but that book is unwritten. All we can know is that we have the strength within ourselves and the support needed to weather any storm. Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 31 Experienced Goods Home Furnishings By Gemma Champoli I was thinking about how the Elliot Street Store began back in the fall of 2009, and I think the English Proverb, “nothing ventured, nothing gained” sums up the attitude that inspired us to take a risk in expanding the mission of Experienced Goods. At the time, donations were abundant, the need for additional space (especially for furniture) was clear, and a strong desire to feature the splendid generosity of our donors gave us the momentum to return to our Elliot Street roots and begin anew. And wasn’t it glorious! So many beautiful donations presented with care and creativity. We so enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone who made it possible. The Elliot Street Store was successful on so many levels, but as William Shakespeare said, “Timing is everything”, and Elliot Street’s time had come to an end. We closed the doors in February 2012, and a fond farewell it was. 2011 was a challenging and inspiring year for many Vermonters. At home here in Brattleboro we felt the powerful and devastating impact of Hurricane Irene. It has indeed changed the face of the Flat Street block and beyond. However, it is important to note that along with the devastation came the inspiration of what community can mean, and the unexpected support that arrives in droves. The lighter/brighter side of the human experience is 32 that we are capable of rising to great heights of compassion, generosity, and endurance. The volunteers and staff showed all of these traits as we set our goals to reopen the Flat Street Store. In addition to the Flat Street flood, the shrinking economy, and the shrinking of downtown Brattleboro impacted the organization as a whole. We needed to pull together our time, energy and resources…so now we are together again under one roof. We are getting a solid foundation under us once again. We look forward to the year ahead and we hope you will come visit us here. We must wonder, what will be next? To quote Napoleon Hill, “First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality." The beginning…is in your imagination. Stay tuned! Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved Staff and Board of Directors 2012 Brattleboro Area Hospice Staff Bettina Berg................... Hospice Volunteer & Education Coordinator Jennifer Carr........................................................Development Director Joyce Drew...................................................................... Office Manager Ryan Murphy.................................................Hospice Care Coordinator Susan Parris............................................................... Executive Director Elizabeth Evans Pittman.......................Bereavement Care Coordinator Cheryl Richards............................................Hospice Care Coordinator Muriel Winter Wolf.......................Bereavement Volunteer Coordinator 2012 Experienced Goods Staff Karen Zamojski......................... Store Manager Ellen Graham......................Assistant Manager Sarah Rice ................... Volunteer Coordinator Jennie Reichman Gemma Champoli Christopher John.................... Store Assistants 2011 Experienced Goods Home Furnishing Staff Karen Zamojski......................... Store Manager Gemma Champoli..................... Store Manager Dar Tavernier-Singer Karen Abel Tom Harris Liza King................................. Store Assistants 2012 Board of Directors Karen Abel Connie Baxter....................................Secretary Gordon Bristol Jean Bristol Ann Fielder................................Vice President Theresa Masiello ...............................Treasurer Greg Moschetti.................................. President Patty Pusey Cynthia Nims Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report 33 2011 Donors The generous assistance of these donors allows our services to remain free of charge. AARP #763 Abigail Abel Karen & John Abel Peter & Marion Abell Bette & Bruce Abrams Eleanor Adams Cliff Adler & Lynn Levine The Albert and Margaret M. Blenderman Fund Carolyn Allbee Bruce & Janet Alvarez American Graphics Institute Arland & Sharon Amidon Steve Anderson & Jacquie Walker Sally Andrews Ella Jane Angell Jennifer Ansart Mathilda Apsit Bob & Barbara Arms Kathleen Arnini AthenaArvanitakis Ruth Atwater Patricia Austin Richard Austin Janet Avery John & Elisabeth Babbitt Baha'i in Brattleboro Martha Baker Patricia Baker Alta Barber Susan Barduhn Tony & Margaret Barrand 34 Katherine Barratt Joan Barry Robert & Debra Bashford Bast Investment Company, LLC Bayada Nurses Karen Becker Denise Beckwith Margaret Bemis Cara Benedetto Janice Bennett Joan Benneyan Bettina Berg Don Berg Jack & Judith Berkley Stephanie Bernard & Justin Bartlett Meredith Bernstein Shayne Berry Diana Bingham Rosa Blaushild Dave Blocher & Claudia Teachman Blocher Stephen & Steffi Booth Ronald BosLun Sandra Bosna & George Rosenthal Michael Bosworth & Naomi Lindenfeld Susan & Tony Botelho Bountiful Inc Hollie Bowen Patricia A. Bowen Phyllis Boysen, Susan Nelson & Don Blenderman Brattleboro Emblem Club #517 Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Brattleboro Retreat Brattleboro Rotary Club Brattleboro Savings & Loan Assoc. Brattleboro Subaru Raymond & Marilyn Briggs Gordon & Jean Bristol Debbie Brookes Norman & Barbara Brooks David B. Brown Brown & Roberts ACE Hardware Giles Browne & Lorraine Fiore John & Lori Brunelle Ione Brunton Mary Lou Buchanan Jane Buckingham Marilyn Buhlmann Willy & Susan Buhlmann James & Debra Bunker Samuel Bunker Victor & Mary Burdo Katherine Burris Frances L. Burrows Patricia Cameron Hugh & Jane Campbell Catherine Canon James & Annette Cappy John & Mary Carnahan Judy Carpenter Ivan Carrasquillo, MD Adrienne Carroll Alan Carter Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved John Case Mary Agnes & Bill Casey Marilyn & Larry Cassidy Elizabeth J. Catlin & Jared P. Flynn Centre Congregational Church Cersosimo Lumber Co., Inc. Joan Cersosimo Betty Chamberlin John Chard Barbara & Stanley Charkey Michelle Cherrier & Philip Goepp Penfield Chester William & Priscilla Chester, Jr. Franklin & Ingrid Chrisco Elizabeth Christie Chroma Technology Corporation Frances Church Arnold Clark Frances Clark Joanne Clark Keith & Nancy Clarke Kate Cleghorn Contemporary Music Store Adam & Torie Collins The Commons Anne & Wayne Cook Kathleen D. Cooke Rupa Cousins Richard Cowan Tim & Waew Cowles Alfred & Janet Cramer Shirley Crosier Lindsay Crossman Charles Cummings Julie Cunningham Tom Dahlin & Greg Van Iderstine John & Helen Daly Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Alan Dater & Lisa Merton Jack & Judy Davidson Karen Davis Allison & David Deen Dental Health, Dr. Neumeister & Dr. Heydinger Ellis & Rosalie Derrig Carl M. Dessaint VFW Post 1034 Carl M. Dessaint VFW Post 1034, Ladies Auxiliary Stephen & Nancy Detra Vera Deyo Carolyn DiNicolaFawley Frank & Vera Dickinson Lynette Dion Deirdre Donaldson & Alan Dann Natalie & Bryan Donovan Mary Dunham Richard K. Dunn Sharon Dunn & Paul Berch Anne Duzinski Robert Earle Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, LLP Charlene Ellis & Fred Taylor Chris Ellis & Marc Cohen Corwin & Elizabeth Elwell Elysian Hills Tree Farm David & Julie Emond Norene Ennis & Jeff Jewett John & Virginia Enola Entergy Vermont Yankee Kathy Ernst & Larry Alper Phyllis & James Erwin Barbara Estey Eternal Blessings Cremation Service, LLC Barbara Evans Dart & Joy Everett Margaret Everitt Gaelen & Richard Ewald Robert S. & Booie Fagelson Harriet Fairbank Peter Falion & Elizabeth Tannenbaum Families First Ina Feidelseit Martha Fenn Eugene Hill Ferrara John & Jane Katz Field Ann Fielder & Tom Yahn John & Karen Finkenberg First Congregational Church First Congregational Church Ladies Aid Society Lesley Fishelman Fisher & Fisher Law Offices, PC Jennifer Fitzgerald Marion, George & Cathy Flanders Robyn Flatley Michael Fleming Paula Flicker Frank & Lois Forester Ellen Forsythe & Alan Blood Christina Fountain Loeffler Tom Franks & Kate Hayes Barb & Mark Frazier Dennis & Marjorie Frehsee Thomas & Cecilie French George & Cina Friend Mary B. Galanes Isabelle Gander Olga Gandia & Clark Todd Robert Gannett Winifred Ganshaw Cary Gaunt Edward Gay & Elizabeth Hull Marilyn E. George Phil George, Edward Jones Investments Jean Giddings & Thomas Ehrenberg Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report Sandra & Robert Gillis Zenith Gladieux Rhondi & Tom Gleason Karen Gore John & Marie Gormly Vicki Gragen Ada Grant Lucy Gratwick Pauline Graves Tom & Connie Green Carol & Jerry Greenberg John & Kathryn Greenberg John B. Greene, Jr. & Christina Greene Laury Greening G.S. Precision, Inc. Bill Guenther Guilford Community Church Jennie Gutosk Mary Gyori Lee Ha Jennifer Hall Betsy Hallett Richard Hamilton Robert Hancock & Christine Terry Alison Hannan Margaret & Michael Hardy Helen Hawes Rev. Dr. Mary N. Hawkes Nancy Haydock, MD Patricia & Herbert Hayes George S. & Rose M. Haynes Melissa Hays Ken & Susan Hebson Ken & Cal Heile George & Laura Heller 35 Dick & Nan Heminway Mike & Betty Henry Michael Hertz Karen & Randy Hess Peter Hetzel & Carol Schnabel Norman Hewes Diane Hill Holton Home, Inc J’meLee Hood Charles Hornsby Iedje Hornsby The Hotel Pharmacy, Inc Frederick Houston Wendell & Madelyn Howard Florence Howe Tori Howell Sylvester Andrew Hritz J. Parker Huber Josephine Hulbirt Clarinda Humphrey Jane Hurley Cindy Hutcheson Wesley & Edith Ives Barbara Jadlowski Carol Jaenson Susan James Anne Janeway Louise Jenkin Jurg Jenzer & Althea Lloyd Lucille Jerard Nancy Jesup Carol Ann & Peter Johnson 36 Christy L. Johnson & Kenneth Vancott Robert & Carol Johnson Kate Judd & Robert Miller Paul & Maryanne Kaemmerlen Robert & Betty Karg Carolyn & Gary Katz Lynn, Lenny & Cindy Keeler Keene Duplicate Bridge Club Marty & Bill Kelly Heidi Kendrick & Robert Soucy Bob & Ginny Kenney Janis & Jim Kiehle Lynde & Connie Kimball Shirley & Robert King Mrs. Arthur Kingsley Donald & Judith Kinley Gloria Klein Bettina Krampetz Richard & Karen Kren John & Patricia Krieger Laurie Kwader Dr. & Mrs. Rene LaPlante Anna May Lacoy George Lagro John Lamoureux Mary Lamoureux Joseph Landry Carey Lane Diane Larsen-Freeman Joel & Cassandra Laviolette Sue Lederer Bruce & Madeleine Lefker Charles & Lynn Leighton Steven & Linda Lembke Kathleen Leo & Thomas Goldschmid Lerna Thomas Lewis & Eve Fox Rose Lee Libby Gordon Little & Elizabeth McLarney Joe & Anne Little Don & Nancy Long Honey Loring Isabel Loudig Juliet Loutrel Thomas Lowell & Ellen O’Beirne James B. Luke Family Charitable Foundation Deborah Luskin & Timothy P. Shafer, MD Justine Lyford Robert Lyons John & Margaret MacArthur Prudence MacKinney Donna Macomber Patrick Madden & Annette Spaulding Shimon & Tova Malin Ed & Meg Maloney Anita Manco Kim & Isabelle Mann David Manning Barbara & Charles Marchant Janice & Henry Martin Evrett Masters Mary Mathias Jim & Gay Maxwell Mayer & Rosenthal Harriet A. Maynard Reginald Maynard Joseph & Jennifer Mazur Greg McAllister & Linda Evans Beth McCabe Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved McCarty & Bueler Stewart & Kris McDermet Mary Ellen McDurfee & Doug Richmond Chip McLaughlin & Keith Maynard Patricia McPike Marilyn McQuaide & Tom Freiberger Mark Melchior Hollis Melton Members First Credit Union Mr. & Mrs. Frank Merrill Natalie & Noah Merrill Merrill Gas Merrill Lynch Sarah Messenger Bernadette Meyer Cathryn E. Meyer Kathleen Michel Roger & Judith Miller Paul Millman Norm & Judi Mills Stephen & Christine Mills Agustine Monge, Jr. Elizabeth Moore Irving & Ellen Morris Meris Morrison Jonathan & Charlene Morse Gregory Moschetti & Connie Baxter Martha Moscrip & Nancy Pike Sara Jane Moss James & Christine Moulton Mount Snow Ltd Mountain Grove Christadelphian Chapel Orly Munzing & Robert Dunbar Patrice Murray & Fred Breunig Gar & Nicole Murtha Margaret Murtha William & Florence Nestor Patti & Bob Neubauer Frances Nevins Margaret Newton, M.D. Newton Business Dr. & Mrs. James M. Nickerson Paul & Jody Normandeau Jane Noyes & Andrew Ingalls Jeff Nugent Tom & Gail Nunziata Nutragenesis, LLC Bob & Norma O’Brien Dan & Mary O’Connell Margaret O’Connell Karolina Oleksiw Nancy & Victor Olson Susan M. Olson Richard Oneill Bob & Joyce Orr Ardis Osborn Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church Sandie Page Elaine & Paul Pajuk Betsy Palmer Judith S. Palmer Ronald & Sallyann Palmer Palmiter Realty Group Lucille Parker Susan Parris Maryann Parrott Peggy Partridge Leonard & Janet Peduzzi People’s United Bank People’s United Operations Center Faith Pepe Periwinkle Foundation Peter Havens Julie Peterson & John Wesley Katherine Philbrick Pine Heights, Brattleboro Elizabeth & Wesley Pittman Harvey & Kathleen Plimpton Eric Pofcher & Wendy Bayliss Bradley Poster & Lauren Olitski Poster Potter Stewart Jr. Law Offices, P.C. Karen Pratt & Robert Perrone Toby Price & Anne Chipperfield Robert & Sen Pen Pu Joseph Pumilia Kate Purdie & Andy Reichsman Patti & Bill Pusey Patricia & Paul Putnam Thomas & Karen Rappaport Marian Raser Robert Ratti Thomas & Carole Rayl Eileen Reardon Greg Record Wendy Redlinger Franz Reichsman Lawrence & Constance Reilly Herbert Rest & Susan Talbot Jean Riccardi Coni Richards Edward & Tammy Richards Liz Richards The Richards Group Peter & Elizabeth Richards Gisele Richardson Anne Rider & Rob Hinrichs Shirley Ridgway Nick Rifkin Craig A. Rinder, MD Mary Rivers Joanne Roberts Laura Robertson & Kurt Behrens Ellie Roden & Phil Russett Michael Roemer Andy Rome Rachel CohenRottenberg & Robert Rottenberg Allison & Nicholas Rowe Jeanne Rueter Joanna & Bob Rueter Lois Ruttenberg Sara & Kevin Ryan Vera Ryan St. Joseph K of C Council #6921 Ana Saavedra, Edward Jones Investments Candace Sak Sams Outdoor Outfitters Marianne Sanders Marjorie & Steven Sayer Ed & Jane Sbardella Jonathan Schechtman & Deborah DoyleSchechtman Deidre Scherer & Steve Levine Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report Erik Schickedanz & Ruth Allard Mark & Marion Schlefer George & Krimhilde Schneeberger Marilyn Scholl Janet & Walter Schwarz Richard & Carol Schwer Kerry Secrest Allan & Sally Seymour Nancy Antonacci Shaich Joyce Shenian Peter & Susan Sherlock Frances & Robert Sherman Robert Sherwin Elaine Shield Heidi Short Jeff Shumlin & Evie Lovett Alfred & Mary Siano Jessica Silva Andrew Simonds Russell G. Simpson Tracy Sloan & Leslie Olcott Priscilla Kay Smith Todd Smith & Jennifer Sutton Janette & Edward Smuts Dan Snow & Elin Waagen Jilisa Snyder Francis Sopper Jane Southworth Marcia M. Spencer Francis & Gail Speno Matt & Fannie Speno John & Targ Spicer Stephen Spitzer & Erin Berand Christopher Sproat Shirley Squires Barbara H. St. John 37 William & Florence Staats Devin Starlanyl Philip & Marcia Steckler Georg & Hanne Steinmeyer Russell & Doris Stephens Lisa Stevens Philip & Cherolyn Stimmel Donald & Alice Stockwell Mary & Erwin Stockwell Lee & Byron Stookey Larry & Myrtle Stowell William Straus & Lynne Weinstein Ruth Struthers Michael Sullivan Elizabeth H. Suppo Gennifer Sussman Caterina Swanson Elisabeth Swift Ann & Doug Switzer William A. & Leona Tabell Margaret Taplin Burton & Harriet Tepfer Jon & Kathy Thatcher Thomas Thompson Trust Ann Thompson William & Suzanne Thompson Lydia & Rob Thomson Nick & Joan Thorndike Kenneth Tillinghast Felicia & Jim Tober Anne Tobey Bob & Karen Tortolani Town of Brattleboro Town of Dummerston Town of Guilford Town of Hinsdale 38 Town of Newfane Town of Putney Town of Townshend Town of Vernon Town of Wardsboro Town of Whitingham Town of Wilmington Ray & Helene Trombley Justine Trowbridge Donna Trumbull Trust Company of Vermont Robert Tucker & Laura Lawson Tucker Katharine Turner Bill & Betty Tyler United Methodist Women of Brattleboro United Way of Coastal Fairfield County United Way of Windham County Dr. & Mrs. George Vazakas The Vermont Community Foundation Vermont Country Store Irene Victoria Mariquita Vitzthum Winifred Vogt Stillman & Wilma Vonderhorst William Vranos, MD Elizabeth S. Walker Jeanne & Ray Walker Janet Wallstein & Jane Dewey Steven Walton Byron Watson Edie & Sandy Wax Barry & Elsa Waxman Jill Weber Kent & Patty Webster Wells Fargo Advisors Roberta Werner Patricia Whalen & Fletcher Proctor Kathleen White Ruth White James & Janet Wickwire John & Cindy Wilcox Cheryl Wilfong Cathi & Roger Wilken Ruth Wilmot William V. Wilmot Douglas Wilson Jerelyn & Alex Wilson Susan & Phillip Wilson Windham Foundation Betsy & Robert Winkler Nancy Wittler Muriel Winter Wolf Connie Woodberry Barbara Woods George & Elizabeth Wright WW Building Supply Merrill & Robert Yeaw Mary Zabriskie Chris Zappala & Lisa Kuneman Bessie Zarvis Lauren & Konstantin von Krusenstiern In-Kind Donors Against The Grain Pizza Agway Amy’s Bakery Anonymous Madeline Arms Michael Atamaniuk Carol Barry Jake Bell Martha Black Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation Brattleboro Food Co-op Edmund Brelsford Carol Brooke-diBock Jane Buckingham Marilyn Buhlmann Connie Burton John Carter Penfield Chester Ali Cole Bill Conley Bill Covey Helen Daly, Psy.D Bonnie Dickey Dutton’s Farmstand Dynamic Landscaping and Supply Kathy Gaiser-Licht Mary Greene Michelle Grist-Weiner Hannaford Helen Hawes Harlow’s Farm Stand Betty Henry Cynthia Hill Rabbi Tom Heyn Mary Kmet-Campbell Leader Beverage Lerna Lilac Ridge Farm Kris McDermet Manny Mansbach Mike Mayer Agnes Mikijaniec Nancy Miller Joan Morse Diane Murphy Sharon Myers Newfane Greenhouse & Nursery North Country Natural Krista Oarcea Barbara Parker Price Chopper Marie Proctor Putney Co-Op Rashed’s Garden Center Bob Ratti Patricia Ray Debbie Rosenblatt Walter Slowinsky Rev. Jean Smith Rev. Lise Sparrow Shirley Squires Martha Swanson Rick Taylor Taylor for Flowers Town of Brattleboro (Kiwanis Shelter) Elizabeth Ungerleider Vermont Country Deli Walker Farm Ray Walker John R. Wright Teri Young Dwight Zeager Donations Made In Honor Of: Jane Baker Margaret Bemis Bettina Berg Mrs. Harlan J. Coit R. Keith Clark, MD Richard Cunningham David Evans Fellow volunteers Melissa Evans Fountain Hallowell Singers Honey Loring Marie Martin My grandchildren Nicolette Susan Parris, Bettina Berg, Elizabeth Pittman and rest of Hospice staff Anne O Sullivan Marion Peloso Elizabeth Pittman Bradley Poster Elisabeth Swift Vanda Warner Donations Made In Memory Of: Eleanor Abel John H. Abel, Sr. Minola Allen Ed Anderson Nicolas A. Apgar Arthur E. Avery Jane Baker Edith Batchelder Helen Baumgartner Joan Somerville Berg Margaret Blenheim Ellie Booth Jana Pospisilova Brown Frances Cecil Nancy Chard Phyllis I. Clark Alice Luke Cole Frances Cooke Fran Covey Wendell W. Covey Ann H. Cummings Carol M. DiNicola William and David Dion Kathleen Donnelly Nora Ellis Rev. David E. Evans Frances & Walker Evans Ginny Evans Ruth Gates Frank & Nicholas Giamartino Barbara Bishop Greenwood Carol Prichett Grobe Claire Grussing Josephine Gully Ruth Henoch Barbara W. Hewes Leslie Hill Edward F. Hurley Donald Jadlowski Gerald James Ellis & Ann Joffe Ava Venice Johnson Gail Kendrick Frida Kulmus Loretta Kulmus Ann Mansur-Lagro George Lamoureux Richard K. Lane Alice LaRosa Jerry Lefevre George Lindsey Loved ones Catherine McGrath Robert McIntyre James McLarney Vincent Manco Sr. Jeanne Mansur Michael Marantz & Rebecca Bat Ohni Marianne Linda Watson Masters Pamela Mayer Mabel & Kenneth Maynard Pete Maynard Margaret “Peg” Morgan Eva Merryman Robert Brenton Mohr Carl Newton Nicolette Brattleboro Area Hospice 2011 Annual Report Charlie Orrange Stuart Osborne Frank & Irene Palmer Mr. & Mrs. Frank Partridge Herbert F. Paulman Don Precourt Jane Hwa Pu Janet Purdie Roger Ramm Mary Reichsman James Riccardi Burton J. Roberts Peter Ruttenberg Irving Saltzman Beatrice Sanzaris Phil & Mary Seagroatt Paul Shield David G. Simons Peggy Smith Raymond Snow Ed Softkey James Speck Laura Sperazzi Kevin, Ron & Maynard Squires Clarence Stacey Phyllis Stromberg Joseph Supple, O.M.I. Andrew D. Suppo Eric Swanson Betty & Guy Theriault Robert Torrey James Tramel Nina Trombley Bill Tucker Henry Wallstein Charles (Chuck) Webb Kelsey Wells Louise Wilson Debbie Wood Jane Worden Robert Yacubian 39 2011 Income and Expenses Income Donations & Fundraising 106,351 Planned Giving & Bequests 10,138 United Way 11,664 Town Funding 4,095 Thrift Shops (after Expenses) 171,135 Miscellaneous8,993 Total Income 312,376 Expenses Wages & Benefits 245,478 Programs & Outreach 20,186 Fundraising & Development 6,102 Overhead & Occupancy 50,212 Depreciation10,210 Total Expenses 332,188 2011 Assets, Liabilities and Equity Assets Cash94,383 Investments178,365 Property & House 174,328 Other Assets 23,177 Total Assets 470,253 Liabilities Accounts Payable Other Liabilities Mortgage Loan Payable VEDA Loan Payable Total Liabilities Equity Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Net Income (Loss) Total Equity Total Liabilities & Equity 40 Loving Care of the Dying and Bereaved 2,259 31,315 101,167 19,178 153,919 314,368 21,778 -19,812 316,334 470,253 A United Way Agency Brattleboro Area Hospice 191 Canal Street Brattleboro, Vermont 05301 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid Brattleboro, VT 05301 Permit # 109