Archives: Volunteer Spotlights

“You, my brown eyed girl.” The lyrics of “Brown Eyed Girl,” Van Morrison’s nostalgic and catchy song from 1967, is familiar to many and a portal to another time for others. For anyone growing up in the 1960s, this song and others from this era evoke memories of times with friends and the feeling of freedom that comes with youth.

Music has the power to connect us to memories hidden in the recesses of our brain and ignite energy in our mind and body. Homeland Hospice, a nonprofit hospice program that serves communities throughout Central Pennsylvania, uses a music and memory program to bring patients comfort and peace during their end-of-life journey. Through this program, volunteers work with a patient’s family to create a playlist specific to the patient’s interests.

For Stephanie Douglas of Carlisle, the song “Brown Eyed Girl” has a new meaning after she played the song for a hospice patient. Stephanie has volunteered with Homeland Hospice for several years. A self-described hugger, Stephanie believes human touch relieves stress and restores calm in the body. When “Brown Eyed Girl” was played, the patient’s demeanor changed.

“The tension disappeared from her face,” Stephanie says. “I could feel her lightly squeeze my hand.”

Stephanie’s patient was nonverbal. She conveyed her emotions through facial expressions and the occasional tightening of her hands. Music was a lifeline to connect her to her past. Stephanie’s patient loved musicals and would often sing and dance throughout her home during her younger years.

“We filled the playlist with musicals and her favorite songs,” Stephanie adds. “We even added holiday songs since my visits were close to Christmas.”

The music helped transport the patient’s memory to a time when illness did not exist. The stress in her face and occasional tears were replaced with lifted eyebrows and wide eyes of excitement. In addition to “Brown Eyed Girl,” holiday songs like “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Up on the Housetop” changed the patient’s demeanor.

“Her face looked peaceful and her eyes grew wide with excitement,” Stephanie says. “I could see her shoulders shimmy ever so slightly.”

Hearing is widely thought to be the last sense to decline during the process of dying, making music the ideal way to connect and ease worries. Music also provides comfort to caregivers.

For Kelly Willenborg of Florida, educating people about the power of music and memory has been her professional life’s work. Kelly is a brain health gerontologist, a researcher who studies the impact of aging. Among her many accomplishments in this field, Kelly launched the Healing Jukebox to bring musical engagement to senior living homes. She also is part of the documentary “Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory” and has developed a series of questions to help guide family members when creating a unique playlist. She uses a free Spotify App for ease of use.

Kelly connected with Homeland Hospice several months ago to bring this organized and purposeful approach of music and memory to Homeland.

“Homeland is one of the first hospice organizations to use this program,” Kelly says. “I hope this is the spark to encourage people across the country to try this approach.”

While more music therapists are in need to keep up with the aging Baby Boomer Generation, the music and memory program is an easy and free approach anyone can use to care for their loved one.

For Stephanie, her experience with music and her hospice patient was a powerful lesson she used when caring for her father during his final days earlier this year. Stephanie developed a playlist of her dad’s favorite music including music from the Four Freshman.

“Music took my dad to a place of comfort,” Stephanie says. “The songs helped all of us find peace during a difficult time.”

The power of human connection brought Stephanie to Homeland as a volunteer. The opportunity to make meaningful connections and utilize new services, like music, has given her a volunteer experience like no other.

“I love my time with Homeland,” Stephanie adds. “I am thrilled to add music as another way to connect with patients.”

For more information about Homeland Hospice, call (717) 221-7890.

Volunteers come in many forms, and Homeland loves them all. They bring a helping hand to activities. They lend a listening ear.

Then there are those like Susan Stillman, behind the scenes but playing a vital role in ensuring that Homeland runs smoothly, and staff do their best for the comfort and care of residents and patients.

Susan retired in 2021 from a career in business analysis, but soon began to use her skills for Homeland, working closely with the development and marketing staff to help transform the customer relationship management (CRM) experience. With sleeker, more efficient systems, staff gets more time to create innovative programs, develop resources, and communicate directly with partners, families, and donors.

“It’s all of the things I loved about my previous job that I’m getting to do again for Homeland,” Susan said.

Susan, a native of Arlington, VA, majored in anthropology and English literature. She said with a laugh that she “was able to parlay those into a career in business analysis.” It started early in her career when she worked at a library that needed to automate its card catalog.

“They didn’t have anybody with the computer skills to do it,” she said. “I said, ‘I don’t have them, either, but I’m willing to learn.’”

From there, she went into tech support, training, and business analysis. Susan explains that business analysts help organizations find and incorporate the software needed to solve problems. It’s a beginning-to-end process involving research, collaboration, testing, and training.

Susan was a business analyst for about 22 years with the American Cancer Society’s Pennsylvania division, based in Hershey. She had come to southcentral Pennsylvania to escape the over-congested Washington area. During the pandemic, her job was downsized.

“I realized I didn’t have to go back to work, so I didn’t,” she said.

Susan fills her time with volunteering that’s meaningful and substantial. With Loving Care Cat Rescue (LCCR), she adopted a pair of cats and began performing volunteer technical work. Today, she manages the adoption application process, serves on the board, and provides resources that cat foster care providers need to succeed.

“With everything, I get to do to help the fosters, assist with the adoption process, and get our kitties into good homes … it’s very rewarding,” Susan said.

Searching for an additional volunteer opportunity, Susan learned about the Homeland Hospice position on volunteermatch.org. She knew she didn’t have the “emotional fortitude” to work directly with patients, but she knew data entry was in her wheelhouse.

Soon, Homeland Hospice staff learned about her professional background, and they happily accepted her offer to help adopt the new CRM system. It was a challenge. They had to unify the separate systems used by Homeland Hospice and the development and marketing departments. With Susan’s help, they found a system that meets the needs of all three operations.

“Susan has been awesome in steering us in the right direction with which system to choose, and she continues to provide support and training as we learn to use this new platform,” said Homeland director of marketing Wendy Shumaker. “It has been a very big project, and we are immensely grateful for her involvement.”

Susan helped merge three databases, run data reports that reveal fresh insights into Homeland operations, and train staff in using the new system.

“I love being able to solve problems, make people’s lives easier, and give them the tools they need to be effective,” said Susan.

The Homeland team is a pleasure to work with, she adds. She credits Homeland Hospice Volunteer Coordinator Laurie Murry with keeping volunteers engaged and training them in “the knowledge they need to support the organization.”

“She stays in touch with everybody, so regardless of your role, you always feel connected,” Susan said.

Susan also enjoys cooking global cuisine and is a regular blood platelet donor. She lives in a circa-1935 home in Susquehanna Township, which her husband is “single-handedly rebuilding,” she said.

Even amid her volunteer duties, the avid reader dives into a murder mystery daily. Susan counts Louise Penny and Margaret Maron as her favorite authors.

“I spend about an hour or two a day reading, taking advantage of the fact that I am actually retired.”

Homeland Center offers levels of care including personal care, memory care, skilled nursing, and rehabilitation. The outreach services of Homeland at Home provide hospice, palliative care, home health, and home care to serve the diverse and changing needs of families throughout central Pennsylvania. For more information or to arrange a tour, please call 717-221-7900.