Lydia Dershewitz starts her day as a volunteer at William J. Riley Memorial Residence making rounds, similar to any healthcare professional.
It’s been part of a routine Dershewitz has enjoyed doing for the past 25 years at the Munster-based hospice home.
“I go home at night and feel so blessed to have this wonderful place. I feel like I’ve come home. This is a very, very special place,” Dershewitz said.
During a recent afternoon, Dershewitz along with fellow volunteer, pre-med student Kayla Skertich, stopped by the bedside of Joanne VanDrunen to ask her if she or family members needed anything.
VanDrunen, a patient at the residence, easily chats while resting comfortably in her room at Riley House, an eight-bedroom house sponsored by Hospice of the Calumet Area.
The two women in the past have even exchanged recipes, including one from VanDrunen for a special sweet potato dish.
“She’s the best in the world,” VanDrunen said of Dershewitz.
VanDrunen has come there to spend her remaining days in hospice care and, on this afternoon, enjoys a visit from her son, Mark VanDrunen, who sits nearby in an easy chair.
“Everybody whose family has ever been here has only great things to say about this place,” her son said.
Dershewitz, who moved to Northwest Indiana 25 years ago from the Boston area, expressed an interest in working as a hospice volunteer and made an appointment to speak to Cynthia Camp, director of volunteers.
Camp admits it’s a volunteer job that’s not for everyone but Dershewitz is remarkable.
“She (Dershewitz) is an exceptional person. It’s her positive energy which affects everyone she works with,” Camp said.
In addition to working as a patient companion volunteer at Riley, Dershewitz also volunteers for the Friends of Hospice as well as the Artisan Group which makes products to sell such as jewelry or crocheted comfort shawls as part of fundraising efforts.
“She’s had a very busy 25 years. She’s just an inspiration. Other volunteers see her enthusiasm and they want to get involved,” Camp said.
Volunteers, which number about 400, play a number of crucial roles including working in the office or taking part in various fundraising efforts.
COVID-19 had a devastating effect on the entire country and hospice was no exception, she said.
“We definitely could use more patient volunteers because of COVID. We’re still rebuilding,” she said.
Prior to COVID, Riley had 72 patient volunteers, but during the pandemic that number dipped to 23.
“At Riley, we are slowly building back up and are back in the 30s,” Camp said.
Patient companion volunteers are needed as well as bereavement volunteers and companion K-9 dogs.
Volunteers include those in their teens all the way through those well into their 90s, she said.
Those volunteers who work at Riley are assigned to a nurse and nurse’s aide.
Those volunteers who work in homes are considered more of a “friendly neighbor,” sent to the home when requested and there to sit with patients while family members sleep or take some time off.
All volunteers, after an initial interview and screening, undergo training.
“To do this kind of work takes a unique individual. Families grieving and people dying. Not everyone can do that work,” Camp said.
Dying is mostly a taboo subject in today’s society.
“We don’t like to talk about dying or getting old. But we are all going to do that,” she said.
Those who are referred to hospice, by a physician, include those living in Lake, Porter, LaPorte and the surrounding Illinois suburbs, said Damian Rico, marketing director at the Hospice of the Calumet Area.
“We don’t turn anyone away,” he said.
Many of the volunteers include high school and college students such as Skertich, a third-year pre-med student at Purdue University Northwest.
She became a volunteer in January and is able to fill that role in addition to her studies and other volunteer work.
“This is my thing,” Skertich said.
Hospice of the Calumet Area serves patients in a variety of ways: Outpatient care at their own home, in an assisted living facility or nursing home, or in-facility care at the William J. Riley Memorial Residence.
The idea for a hospice, the first in Northwest Indiana, was formed in 1979 when Diocese of Gary Bishop Andrew Grutka appointed local medical leaders and clergy to investigate a new concept for end-of-life services.
It was a grassroots effort, facilitated by a major gift from the East Chicago Knights Columbus. The resulting nonprofit agency, then known as Hospice of Northwest Indiana, admitted its first patient in October 1981.
Those wanting to become a volunteer should call Cynthia Camp at 219-922-2732 or email her at ccamp@hospicecalumet.org.
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
