Very little may seem familiar or comforting. A person may feel isolated and not feel at ease talking about what they are experiencing.

It is also difficult for people to know what to say and how to help the grieving person. Evergreen, the Pine Tree Hospice Center for Grieving Children and Adults is here for those going through the grief process and is excited to announce a new volunteer facilitator training to be held in early spring for those who want to help their community members.

What does the Evergreen program do? Since the fall of 2008, Evergreen has provided weekly peer support for children and adults, divided into age-appropriate groups, on Wednesday evenings. Expressing feelings in a safe place is part of the healing process after a death and is the foundation of the work done through a variety of activities in the peer support groups. Our adult drop in group meets on the first and the third Thursday of each month.

Children, teens, young adults, and adults benefit from a supportive environment with a peer group of people who have suffered similar losses. The groups are led by trained and supervised volunteers who have completed 28 hours of training. Evergreen is a peer support model and does not provide therapy or counseling. In addition to the 1,400+ hours of service that our volunteers provided to families who attended have Evergreen meetings each week, volunteers have also provided community outreach to area churches, schools, social service agencies and medical facilities.

Why should you become an Evergreen volunteer?
Being an Evergreen volunteer is an opportunity to give your time and skills to make an important difference in the life of a child, teen, family, and the community. Volunteers are our most valuable resource - generous people from the community, supporting families at a difficult and lonely time. Some people volunteer once a week while others fill a need from time to time. We are always in need of more caring people to provide this much needed program.

If you are interested in a very fulfilling volunteer opportunity, we would love to hear from you. For more information, visit www.PineTreeHospice.org, call Pine Tree Hospice at 564-4346, e-mail PTH at wecare@pinetreehospice.org or drop by the PTH office located at 883 West Main Street in Dover-Foxcroft.