Inspirations and Transformations - January 2021 |
As the new year opens before us with promise and opportunity, we welcome new faces and bid adieu to a beloved founding volunteer. |
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Honoring A Beautiful Mission and Community
Director's Message
By Pamela Norr, Executive Director Southern Oregon Friends of Hospice
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It is such an honor to take the reins of Southern Oregon Friends of Hospice, Celia's House in Holmes Park and The HUB – an organization and projects built on, filled with, and focused on kindness.
To be chosen to lead an amazing team of true professionals and support the Board and volunteers with such a strong legacy and commitment to providing cherished care at the end of life is a responsibility I hold in my heart.
This organization has flourished since its inception in 2008 with the guidance and leadership of committed staff and board leadership. I look forward to helping take this community treasure to new heights, working to provide a culture of inclusivity and support to our team and becoming an employer of choice in the nonprofit and healthcare field in our Valley.
For our donors, I look forward to innovative discussion on how to best steward the generosity to provide excellent hospice care to our residents. For volunteers – whether at the bedside or in our beloved HUB (Hospice Unique Boutique in Ashland) – I hope to help extend our gratitude for the immeasurable gifts they provide to our organization.
In short, I want to support all who care about Southern Oregon Friends of Hospice in helping lift our organization and take it even higher in supporting our region with caring, kind, and mindful hospice care. Thank you for your part in this important journey! I look forward to meeting and talking with you.
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A Life Well Lived and Loved
Bruce Duncan - November 5, 1942 - December 9, 2020
By Sue Carroll, Volunteer Coordinator
Bruce Duncan, Southern Oregon Friends of Hospice volunteer since 2007, touched the hearts of all those who knew him. His dedication to service, not only to our organization, but to the community and his wife of 53 years, Trudy, was inspirational. Bruce and Trudy together have lived our mission while devoting untold volunteer hours to Hospice Unique Boutique and Celia’s House.
Bruce was integral to our humble beginnings and the success of Hospice Unique Boutique (The HUB). Both he and Trudy worked at the infamous yard sale in the Elks Club parking lot on a scorching July day in 2008 to raise seed money for The HUB launch. Bruce, along with Trudy, warmly greeted shoppers during the shop’s opening day and helped make The HUB a fun place for others – before long recruiting more than 50 volunteers. From The HUB's inception, Bruce was a HUB cashier extraordinaire with his warm smile, sparkling eyes and funny stories.
Bruce and Trudy loved being in service together. In 2016, both were ecstatic when we purchased Celia’s House, bringing our organization one step closer to the dream of opening a hospice care facility. In 2017, Bruce donned a hard-hat and shovel along with 18 other community leaders and supporters at the ground-breaking ceremony of what would become Celia’s House.
During the capital campaign, Bruce was usually at Trudy's side, asking “How can I help?” as she led countless fund raising and celebratory events for Celia’s House. During the Celia’s House move-in days in 2018, Bruce helped a volunteer team schlepp furniture and boxes while Trudy and other volunteers decorated to create home-like feel inside. “Bruce was my biggest supporter during the startup days of The HUB, during the capital campaign, and opening of Celia’s House," said Trudy. "All I ever got from him was encouragement and support.”
Those who knew Bruce will miss him dearly and know that he lived a full rich life devoted to family and friends. He was blessed to take his last breath with Trudy, his children, and grandchildren at his side.
In lieu of flowers, Trudy requests memorial donations be forwarded to Southern Oregon Friends of Hospice at 217 S. Modoc Avenue, Medford, OR 97504. Online donations are accommodated via the website at: http://bit.ly/SOFHdonations
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Celia’s House Welcomes New Administrator
Michele Murray
By Cheryl French, Southern Oregon Friends of Hospice Volunteer
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With over 19 years of experience working in the home care and hospice fields, Michele Murray joined Celia’s House on January 4 as its new Administrator.
“This kind of work is all I’ve ever wanted to do,” Michele shares. “My sister is an obstetrics nurse. Her calling was always to bring people into the world, and mine was always to help them leave it.” She adds, “To be there in the moment, and support patients and their loved ones wherever they are in their journey gives me the greatest joy.”
As her career has advanced, Michele became certified in Residential Adult Care Administration and has held Administrative and Director of Operation positions in both Southern California at CareWorks Health Services and Murillo Villa Adult Family Home in Washington State.
Michele and her family moved to Medford area where she has worked in management at Barnett Woods Retirement Community and most recently at Signature Home Health and Hospice.
Prior to her position at Barnett Woods, Michele took time from her career to be the primary caregiver for her husband, and to grieve his loss after an extended illness. She hopes that her personal experience is helpful in guiding others through the end of life process.
“Every community needs a hospice residence,” she said. “Some terminally ill people don’t want to pass away in the hospital and are not able to be cared for at home – where it can be hard work both physically and emotionally for family members.”
"Living just eight minutes away from Celia’s House will be a plus," says Michele, who shares that she "already feels a deep connection to Celia’s House’s mission." When Michele is not at work, she enjoys spending time with her two daughters and three grandchildren, who also live in Southern Oregon.
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Congratulations Are in Order! -- The January 8, 2021 edition of Ashland's The Sneak Preview named The HUB as one of the top-ranked shopping venues in Ashland!
Donations Gratefully Accepted -- Drop on by with your beloved no-longer-needed items 10:30-4:30 daily at 1618 Ashland Street, Ashland. Your donations (and purchases) will continue to support the provision of care to our hospice residents at Celia's House!
Special Thanks -- We at The HUB wish to recognize, celebrate, praise and thank each of our 2020 donors, shoppers, online buyers, volunteers and visitors. It is because of you that we have not only weathered but succeeded in this unique year. We are more than grateful. Warmly, The HUB Team!
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Year-End Donations Reflect Wonderful Community
By Julie Raefield, Development Director
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We wish to send a warm and grateful "thank you" to our generous community of supporters for your outpouring of gifts between October and December of 2020. The kindness of 236 donors from our November Annual Newsletter appeal, added to the October donations, allowed us to surpass our goal.
Each precious gift of yours helps us care for our residents and families - enabling lovely moments like the one shared here from photographer Rod Long. Since opening, your donations have supported 286 hospice and palliative care residents (and their families) at Celia's House. We look ahead to 2021 with hope and gratitude for our donors as we join together to to support ongoing operations and longterm sustainability.
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Missed our Annual Newsletter or the November 2019-September 2020 donor honor roll? Link here:
Need Help or Have Questions?
Call Sarah Bieniek, Administrative Assistant at: 541-500-8911
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