Hospice Society of Camrose and District
5415-49 ave T4V 0B2 Camrose, AB, Canada

It’s Bill’s last day and we’ll let him have the last word. We will miss you Bill, but we are looking forward to following you in your next role. Enjoy.

visiting with my co-worker whose last day is tomorrow

What we do isn’t easy. But our volunteers have the skills and training and love and compassion to help those who are suffering.

Death is hard and sometimes we just don’t know what to say when someone loses a loved one. We don’t need to fix it, we just need to be compassionate.

Finding the right words to support someone who is grieving is not easy. Today, Bill tells us how to support those going through grief.

Today we join Stacey Brewster, Program Manager at St. Mary's Hospital on the topic of Green Sleeves and Advance Care Planning

We join Ricci Matthews today in conversation on the theme of volunteering in rural Alberta - joys and challenges.

We are happy to be working together on this presentation.

If you see Kelly Wiebe walking around Mirror Lake say hi and maybe join him. Kelly walks for mental and physical health.

You may have seen Kelly Wiebe walking around Mirror Lake. What started as a walk with a friend to improve his mental health has built into a passion for mental and physical health. Walking has helped Kelly deal with the loss of his parents. Through his daily walks Kelly has also found friendship. If you see Kelly say hi and join him on his walk.

Today is the day we share posts stories about mental health. Kelly Wiebe uses sports as his conversation starter. The lifelong Winnipeg Jets and all-round sports fan gets people talking by talking sports. What is your conversation starter?

Grieving is never easy, especially during a pandemic. This video is dedicated to those we have lost.

Rhonda Watt joins us for a conversation regarding all things grief during the holidays

There is no vaccine for grief. Be kind to each other and yourself.

Don’t forget to join our Blue Christmas interactive discussion tonight at 7. Go to our website Camrose hospice.org and click on the blue Christmas link to join.

Death Doula Rayne Johnson joins us today to chat about rituals and celebrations for life transitions.

Join us this Friday, Dec. 4, for our Light of the Remembrance Tree Facebook live event. At 5:30 we will be going live beside our tree to say a few words about Lights to Remember, to honour one of our volunteers, Murray Cowan, who died this fall and to thank our donors for participating in this year’s event.

On Tuesday Dec. 15, at 7 pm, join our Bill Harder for an interactive zoom discussion about Christmas during the time of Covid. Bill will be available to talk about stress, grief, loneliness and dealing with crazy family members during Christmas. Go to the website posted below, scroll down and click on the link: "It's a Blue Christmas." Share this post with others. We don't know if there is sadness behind people's smiles.

It is not just adults who grieve. At our office we have a collection of books on grief and loss for children. Stop by and borrow a book if you know of a child who is dealing with loss (even from a pet). These books can spark a discussion, or just quietly allow the child to understand their feelings.

Each Nov. 1, Rhonda Watt celebrates her son's Angel anniversary, the day her son, Erik Garthus, died of a drug overdose. "It's an important day for us to honour him," said Rhonda. This year Rhonda and her husband, Bill, made spaghetti sauce with bacon, the last meal Erik made for them. They chatted with their family via Skype and drank a glass of wine. Rhonda bought gender reveal powder and wrote Erik's name on a board and burned it in a bonfire in the backyard. The blue paint sparkled in the flames. Earlier in the day both Rhonda and Bill wrote Erik a letter. Those were also burned in the bonfire which helped release the grief. "It takes away the pain. You feel you honour him." The Angel anniversary is just one way Rhonda remembers and celebrates Erik.

Today is #GivingTuesday. Camrose Hospice is a small, but mighty organization. In 2019, we helped 1,900 people and our services were used more than 4,500 times. The need for our services is constant. One of our tools is support groups led by our skilled volunteers. They include daytime general grief, suicide loss, children's loss, teen and young adult grief, parent group with the loss of a child, men's cooking circles, caregivers group, cancer survivors and the grief walking ...group. When funding is available we remunerate our facilitators. If not, we rely on their generosity to guide our clients in group processes. If you can help during #givingtuesday, we would appreciate any funding you can give us. The link to donate is include on this page. Please share this page with others, who you may need our services, or be willing to donate to our organization.

Conversation with Donna Lynne Erickson, author, grief supporter, comedian.

Bryan Lynka is the volunteer treasure of the hospice society. When he moved to Camrose in 2017 he wanted to find a group that was important to him. His grandma was involved in a hospice society in BC and Lynka knew the importance of hospice groups. On Saturday he made a donation in honour of his grandfather, Frank Steger . If you want to make a donation, go to our website.

Need a little levity in your life? Join us today at noon for belly laughs with Bill and Donna Lynne Erickson. Today's Facebook live at noon event is called Grief and Laughter. Grab you sandwich, log into Facebook at noon, and listen to Bill and Donna Lynne talk about the importance of laughter even in tough times.

Christmas is a joyful celebration, but it can also be a tough time for those who have lost a loved one. The Hospice Society would like to invite people to remember your loved one with our Lights to Remember campaign. Drop by our office and buy a lightbulb for our Christmas tree and write your loved ones name on a paper angel to hang on the tree. Details and times are on the poster below. This is also a fundraiser for the Camrose Hospice. Please share this post with those who you think may like to donate, or buy a bulb in remembrance of a loved one.

WANTED: REAL or FAKE Christmas tree. Does anyone have a tall Christmas tree they can loan or donate to us? We want to use a tree for our Lights to Remember campaign. The plan is folks will purchase a light for our tree in memory of a loved one. But we need a tree that we can place outside of our building by Mirror Lake first. While the details still need to be finalized, we plan to light the tree on Dec. 4 and will have a drop in time in the evening when we will light the tr...ee and invite people to hang a paper angel on the tree with the name of loved one. If you have a tall tree you can load or donate to us, call the office (780-608-0636) and we will hug you virtually.

Diana is sharing her experiences as a Palliative Nurse Consultant for AHS