For Deb Vazquez, being a volunteer for Emmanuel Hospice is about ensuring patients have “a friend in the end.” It’s about providing that friendly face to smile at and a caring hand to hold, offering comfort and compassion at the end of life.

She began serving as a hospice volunteer earlier this year along with her husband, Tony, and their dog, Cocoa, as a way to give back. The couple had seen the benefits from having parents in hospice, most recently with Tony’s parents in Florida.

They found Emmanuel through an online search for hospice in their area and learned the nonprofit is always looking for new volunteers, especially pet visitors. They promptly signed up and completed the volunteer training, Cocoa included. Vazquez says it has been incredibly rewarding for the whole family.

“The impact of pet visits is amazing,” she said. “Patients absolutely love Cocoa. She’s small enough to sit on people’s laps and will gaze into their eyes. Patients like to talk or hum to her and pet her. Cocoa just has a great temperament and loves the attention.”

In addition to visits with Cocoa, Vazquez meets patients one-on-one. In that capacity, she’s found the simplest gestures can have a profound impact.

“Just holding hands is huge,” she said. “A couple of patients love when I bring lavender-scented lotion to rub on their hands. It is sweet to see the calm it can bring to them.

“Talking to patients seems to make a difference, too. Even if they are noncommunicative, I’ll get a smile or a hand squeeze back that tells me they know someone is there for them and cares.”

Vazquez is intentional about learning about each person’s life story so she can find ways to personalize visits. Volunteer Coordinator Holly Salas said it’s clear Vazquez “cares deeply” about the patients she sees.

“Deb goes above and beyond,” Salas said. “She brings patients treats and flowers, plays music for them and seeks out connection in any way she can. She recently reconnected one of our patients with family members, which was very meaningful to them.”

Having an interest in genealogy, Vazquez was eager to help the patient look into his family history and reconnected him with relatives.

“It started with connecting over foods he grew up with living on a farm like I did, “ Vazquez explained. “With permission from his dietitian, I was able to bring him food from his childhood. That brought up a lot of memories and family member names that he hadn’t been able to remember.

“It was just fantastic. You start with talking about something as innocuous as food we enjoyed as kids to find common ground and then suddenly it’s opening doors to new ways to make someone’s day a little brighter.”

Vazquez discovered another patient loves playing games, so naturally, they now have a three-week game of Monopoly going. That patient also loves playing games with Cocoa.

“The patient will toss dog bones around her room, so Cocoa has to search them out,” Vazquez said. “She gets a real kick out of Cocoa doing this sort of hide and seek.”

To anyone interested in volunteering with a hospice organization, Vazquez says it’s natural to wonder about what it will be like, but assures that any worries will be “far outweighed by the moments of joy you’ll bring.”

Anyone who wants to learn more about volunteering with Emmanuel Hospice is encouraged to email EHvolunteer@EmmanuelHospice.org or call 616.719.0919 and ask for Holly. An in-person orientation to onboard new volunteers will be offered from 1-4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at the nonprofit’s Grand Rapids office. More information can be found at EmmanuelHospice.org/volunteer.

Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 15, 2025 – Emmanuel Hospice is looking for volunteers in the greater Grand Rapids area to provide companionship and support to patients.

The organization is in particular need of patient/family support volunteers in the northern regions of the metropolitan area, specifically Belmont, Greenville and Sparta. Volunteers with pets are also needed to join the nonprofit’s popular pet visitor program.

“Emmanuel Hospice relies on the generosity of volunteers to uplift the quality of life of our patients and their loved ones,” Volunteer Coordinator Holly Salas said. “Our volunteers bring compassion and joy to our patients during a particularly difficult time. By providing a peaceful presence, companionship and laughter, volunteers help make hospice more about living.”

Patient/family support volunteers help enhance patients’ quality of life through one-on-one conversation. They spend time listening, reading, sharing positive memories, capturing patient life stories and more at the bedside.

Volunteers who participate in the pet visitor program are first trained as patient/family support volunteers, in addition to having their pet certified as a companion animal. Pet visitors and their human companions are specially trained and selected to match each patient’s specific needs, energy level and abilities.

Emmanuel Hospice makes all the arrangements needed for a pet to become certified as a pet visitor on the volunteer’s behalf and covers the certification cost. The process involves documentation of current wellness exams and vaccinations as well as three observation visits.

Other volunteer roles involve making bereavement calls, supporting office needs, assisting with community outreach, knitting and card-making. A veteran-to-veteran program is also available for veterans and active-duty service members to support patients who share the common thread of military service.

“I’m passionate about matching the unique skills and interests of prospective volunteers with the right opportunity,” Salas said. “You’ll be set up for success with all the training you’ll need and an assignment tailored to your strengths. If you have any interest in volunteering, I encourage you to reach out for more information.”

Individuals who are interested in volunteering must first undergo a criminal background check and screening for tuberculosis before receiving training.

An in-person orientation to onboard new volunteers will be offered from 1-4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at the nonprofit’s Grand Rapids office. The event will include a thorough introduction to Emmanuel Hospice and its volunteer roles, policies and procedures. Alternatively, a hybrid option including an in-person meeting and self-paced online course is also available.

Anyone who is interested in volunteering and wants to learn more is encouraged to email EHvolunteer@EmmanuelHospice.org or call 616.719.0919 and ask for Holly. More information about volunteer opportunities can also be found at EmmanuelHospice.org/volunteer.

About Emmanuel Hospice

Emmanuel Hospice is an interfaith provider of compassionate, person-centered hospice care to patients and their loved ones in West Michigan. Serving the community since 2013, the nonprofit draws on a team approach that focuses holistically on mind, body and spirit, working to enhance each patient’s life with a combination of expert medical care, spiritual counseling and complementary therapies and services – because hospice is more about living than dying. Emmanuel Hospice has expanded to serve all of Kent and Ottawa counties and portions of Allegan, Barry, Newaygo, Ionia, Montcalm and Muskegon counties. For more information, visit EmmanuelHospice.org.

Palliative (pal·li·a·tive), noun: a medicine or form of medical care that relieves symptoms without dealing with the cause of the condition.

That sounds like hospice, right? Well, yes and no. While they share similarities, hospice care and palliative care aren’t one in the same.

“Hospice is always palliative, but palliative care is not always hospice,” says Emily Page, a nurse practitioner with Emmanuel Hospice. “Both focus on symptom management, but hospice care is more comprehensive while palliative care tends to be more consultative.”

With professional experience in both palliative and hospice care, Page is well-versed in where the two overlap and differ. She says the main distinctions lie in the breadth of services that are covered and a patient’s goals and eligibility.

“To be eligible for hospice, you have to have a prognosis of six months or less of life and a goal of treating symptoms over curing your condition,” Page explains. “By contrast, palliative care also treats symptoms, but it can be utilized for patients who are still having active treatments to cure a disease.”

For example, when working for a palliative clinic, Page would commonly see people actively receiving chemotherapy, radiation, dialysis or surgical procedures to treat cancer, advanced stages of COPD, chronic heart conditions or heart failure.

Page says a big focus of palliative care is having “goals of care” discussions with patients facing serious illnesses or chronic conditions.

This involves exploring what matters most to the patient in terms of their well-being, discussing prognosis and treatment options and facilitating decision-making. Palliative care providers are adept at monitoring changes in a patient’s condition and adjusting care plans for evolving goals.

“Palliative care programs can bridge the gap between patients who may be medically appropriate for hospice but not yet goals-of-care ready,” Page says. “In those cases, when a patient decides they don’t want to pursue curative treatment anymore, their palliative care team can shift them into a hospice program.”

It can work the other way around, too.

“If a patient enrolls in hospice and later finds a new clinical trial, they could be referred to a palliative program, which would walk alongside them while they’re actively seeking treatment.”

Coordination of care between multiple specialists, Page says, is another aspect of palliative care that can be helpful.

“Palliative care professionals specialize in putting everything together,” Page explains. “When you go to the hospital, you may be seeing three or four specialists who all have different treatment plans that don’t always work together. That’s where palliative care can come in and determine what the patient’s ultimate goals are to help the different specialists better align.”

Similar to hospice, there are different types of palliative care programs out there, Page says, so services can vary, and it is consultative in nature. Hospice, on the other hand, is a specific Medicare benefit that provides a more comprehensive approach to care through holistic, team-based services for both patients and their families.

“Palliative care can be really helpful for improving quality of life while pinpointing when a patient is appropriate for hospice and starting those discussions early,” Page noted. “Palliative care should not be seen as a replacement for end-of-life care when patients meet both goals of care and eligibility requirements.

“When considering between the two, I recommend taking the time to ask your provider questions to fully understand your options and choose the path that is best for you and your goals.

For more information, call 616.719.0919 or visit EmmanuelHospice.org.

Myths and misconceptions surrounding hospice have caused people to delay accessing supportive end-of-life care they’re entitled to – or skip it entirely.

Melissa Wedberg, vice president of community relations at Emmanuel Hospice, is passionate about dispelling these myths and empowering individuals to take advantage of hospice services earlier on.

“If you have Medicare or private insurance, hospice is a benefit you have a right to when you’re medically eligible,” Wedberg said. “We are not hastening death; we are bringing support. Delaying hospice can lead to unnecessary pain, suffering and potentially even loss of time with loved ones. After finding out what hospice is – and is not – families wish they’d called sooner.”

Hospice is not giving up.

According to Wedberg, this is the biggest mental and emotional barrier that exists not only for patients but for families and even for some physicians, too.

“Hospice is not about resigning to the disease process or age; it’s about refocusing goals,” she explained. “When someone doesn’t have curative options left, we focus on enhancing quality of life. At Emmanuel, we start with the question, ‘How do you want to live?’ Hospice means gaining support during a difficult time rather than going through it alone.”

Hospice is not just for your last days or hours.

Individuals can be on hospice for months or more, especially when enrolling sooner than later. There are many diagnoses that make you eligible.

“It might surprise people to learn that someone on hospice is not necessarily someone who looks like they’re dying,” Wedberg said. “You may have seen a hospice patient and not even known it because they were out at a grocery store or attending a ball game. Hospice care is helping that individual live how they want to live for the time they have left.”

Hospice does not hasten death.

“Hospice care is a way for people to live more comfortably for longer,” Wedberg said. “In fact, we believe hospice is more about living than dying. We work tirelessly to provide life-giving opportunities that make every moment matter.”

Studies have found hospice patients may actually live longer due to better quality of life and symptom management than those with similar illnesses who are not receiving end-of-life care.

Hospice will not make you change doctors.

“You can keep your primary care provider, or you can choose to have your care overseen by the hospice medical director,” Wedberg said. “What’s important for patients and families to know is they remain in

control when they sign on. We offer support and solutions; you can decide if or how you want to accept them.”

Hospice will not take away your medications.

A hospice nurse will work with a patient’s doctor to determine which medications are necessary to maintain comfort, but “if a patient wants to continue a medication they’re taking, they’re generally able to do so,” Wedberg said.

Hospice is not a refusal of all medical treatment.

While choosing hospice means a focus on quality of life over curative measures, that doesn’t mean all medical treatments stop.

“With the exception of cancer treatment or dialysis, it’s rare patients have to give up treatment, especially when it’s for symptom management,” Wedberg said.

Hospice will not administer pain medication regardless of need.

Some believe hospice will immediately use heavy pain management, such as morphine or opioids, no matter the situation. There is also the myth that these medications will hasten death. Both are not true.

“We only treat pain if pain exists,” Wedberg said. “And we’re going to treat it at the appropriate level for each individual only to relieve discomfort and improve their quality of life.”

Additionally, patients are empowered to use other therapies and services, such as massage therapy, acupuncture, essential oils and more, alongside or instead of medication to manage their symptoms, depending on their wishes and goals.

Hospice is not a place.

Hospice is rarely an actual location that people go to, but rather a service that comes to you wherever you call home.

Hospice is not a one-time decision.

“If for any reason you don’t want hospice anymore, you can stop at any time and there’s no penalty,” Wedberg said. “You can leave and come back. You can switch providers. If a miracle treatment or clinical trial becomes available, you could take it. But in the meantime, if you’re eligible for hospice, why not get that support in place?”

For more information, call 616.719.0919 or visit EmmanuelHospice.org.

When Mary Ann Sabo was told her brother Stephen only had a few months to live, she immediately knew two things. First, she would bring him to her home to spend his final days. Second, she would need help – a lot of help.

Stephen had been born with spina bifida, which brought with it a host of physical and developmental disabilities. He was living in an independent apartment in Grand Rapids with a lot of daily support prior to an accident that landed him in a rehab facility where the pandemic accelerated his decline.

Mary Ann reached out to the team at Emmanuel Hospice to see if moving him to her home was even possible. Her brother would need help with pretty much everything – dressing, toileting, bathing, medication management and a host of things neither she nor her husband felt prepared to undertake. An Emmanuel social worker spent a day making calls before reaching out to tell Mary Ann the one word she most wanted to hear: yes.

“Stephen had a lot of complex physical needs I couldn’t handle on my own,” Mary Ann recalls. “Emmanuel Hospice was our quarterback, providing my family with the most compassionate team to lead his care for the final six weeks of his life. They recommended a skilled nursing agency that could support Stephen’s daily needs with kindness and grace. Emmanuel even found us a sitter who could spend time with Stephen when Jeff and I had to work.

“For so much of Stephen’s life, we heard no, no, no – we couldn’t accommodate whatever the ask was because his needs were far too complicated. At the time when it mattered the most, Emmanuel got us to yes in the blink of an eye.”

That’s one of the primary reasons Cara Vink joined Emmanuel Hospice as a nurse case manager. For a decade, she had worked in a residential setting caring for those with disabilities, caring for those often written off by society. After completing a nursing degree, Vink was ready to take her new skills and push her advocacy in a new direction.

“The families of people with special needs are very passionate,” Vink notes. “They’ve had to fight for their loved ones for years. They are that loved one’s first champion – and that can be a real barrier to calling in hospice. Families can be terrified because they think it means they’re giving up, and they’re wired never to give up.

“It’s my job to provide education, to reassure them hospice doesn’t mean we’re done fighting at all. It does mean their loved one can receive more support and more visits from a broader variety of caregivers – nurses, aides, spiritual caregivers, music therapists and more. It means they can get help 24/7 to manage symptoms and make their loved one more comfortable.”

Communication is critically important during end-of-life care – and doubly so, Vink says, when dealing with a patient with disabilities. Too often, these patients are ignored or overlooked, so Vink stresses the importance of clear, direct communication.

“When I sit down with a new patient and family, I make sure they know they are the priority,” she explains. “It’s not just ticking through a list of questions. I make sure it’s a discussion, and I allow extra time for questions.

“It’s important to make sure the patient is included, even if they are nonverbal. I talk to the patient directly, even though I know they might not be able to respond. How we treat each and every patient is so important. That speaks volumes to families, particularly those with disabilities.”

Vink notes Emmanuel Hospice supports in other ways, large and small, to care for those with disabilities, including:

• Procuring durable medical equipment: For individuals who need a new wheelchair, it might take a year or more to wade through the insurance process. Vink says Emmanuel can cut through the red tape much faster, securing a new wheelchair in a matter of days or an oxygen tank in the middle of the night.
• Providing grief support: Vink explains shifting out of champion mode can be difficult for loved ones of those with disabilities. “It can be a grieving process not to have the same goals in mind, to feel like you’re giving up” she says. “We can help with the grieving process while the patient is still with us.”
• Delivering individualized care: A lot of Emmanuel patients end up feeling like family, Vink notes. “You get to know people very well,” she says. “As a nonprofit, we have the time to do extra things, such as patient wishes or complementary therapies that provide comfort and create memories. We pay a lot of attention to detail.”

That was especially true for Stephen Sabo. His Emmanuel care team loved talking with him about two of his favorite things: cooking and fishing. They celebrated with him when his great-nephew was born, with a music therapist coming in to record Stephen’s heartbeat and set it to music to share with the little one he would never meet. Emmanuel nurses and aides laughed and joked and made him the center of attention until Stephen drew his last breath – and then they anointed his body with lavender and embraced his sister.

“I could not have asked for a better death for my brother,” recalls Mary Ann, wiping away the tears that still come readily four years later. “And I could not have done it without Emmanuel Hospice.”

For more information, call 616.719.0919 or visit EmmanuelHospice.org.