Community Care
Hospice Huntsville provides support to Huntsville and surrounding area which includes Port Sydney, Baysville, Dwight and Dorset. Supports are available to permanent residents and those staying at their cottages or visiting for a brief stay family in the area.
We provide support to people who have received a life limiting diagnosis, and their family. Our supports can be available from the time of the diagnosis through to end of life and bereavement.
Hospice Huntsville Volunteer Visiting program is Accredited through Hospice Palliative Care Ontario. This can help to assure you that our supports are high quality and meets provincial best practices for palliative care.
Our well-trained Volunteer Visitors add to your existing circle of care (family, care givers, PSW, nursing, medical etc.). They provide nonmedical supports in the comfort of your home. Their role is to support you, your caregiver(s) and family by providing companionship, emotional support, listening and practical assistance, including respite.
Our Volunteer Visitors are thoroughly screened through an application, interview process which includes completing a Vulnerable Sector Police Check. They complete approximately 30 hours of preliminary training and orientation. Additionally, Hospice Huntsville is committed to providing regular on-going training and mentorship for our Volunteer Visitors. Along with their training, volunteers bring with them, their natural gifts, talents, and life experiences.
To request visiting volunteer support:
For more information, to request a Volunteer Visitor, or to make a referral, please contact
Jane Weiland, Program Coordinator (705) 789-6878 ext. 200 or email jane@hospicehuntsville.com
Our well-trained Grief and Bereavement volunteers provide non-clinical grief support. Their role is to offer you compassionate support to you on your grief journey. Hospice Huntsville provides support to Huntsville and surrounding area which includes Port Sydney, Almaguin Highlands, Lake of Bays area: Baysville, Dwight and Dorset.
Adult Grief Groups: Seven-week groups are offered in Spring and Fall. Small groups allow participants to learn, share, offer support and gain insight into to their personal journeys. Participants should allow 3 months from the date of the death of their loved one before joining a group support program. Next program begins Spring 2024.
Contact Theresa at Hospice Huntsville for details and registration.
Adult Companioning: One to one support can be provided early in bereavement. Typically, six one- hour appointments are available at a schedule that works for the individual and volunteer.
This six- week program is offered as an afterschool program for children who have experienced a significant loss through death or divorce/ separation. Small groups run twice per year, typically in late fall and spring. Our program is for elementary school children. Referrals accepted throughout the year.
The Butterfly Project:
Referrals to this individual support can be made directly to Hospice Huntsville or through the guidance office at Huntsville High School. Working with the guidance office can facilitate support to be offered during the school day at a time that makes sense within the student’s schedule. This can help reduce transportation barriers.
The Butterfly Project:
For further information or to make a referral, please contact Theresa Scott, Grief & Bereavement Program Coordinator (705) 789-6878 Ext. 229 or email theresa@hospicehuntsville.com .
All grief support programs are at no charge to our community members.
Grief and Bereavement Programs are available through in person groups or on an individual basis . Please contact Theresa at Hospice Huntsville (705) 789-6878 Ext. 229 or email: theresa@hospicehuntsville.com for further information. We are also accepting referrals for future Grief Support Groups. All of our programs & services are no charge to our community members.
The next Adult Grief Support group session will begin the Spring 2024. Registration is now open. All grief support programs are completely free of charge.
To register, or for further information on the program, please contact Theresa at Hospice Huntsville (705) 789-6878 Ext. 229 or email: theresa@hospicehuntsville.com
About the Program:
Trained facilitators will guide group participants as they cope with the death of a loved one. The program is intended to give people a sense of belonging and show that they are not alone in their suffering. The small groups allow people to share and experience healing.
Each session runs for seven weeks.
Referrals accepted throughout the year.
Hospice Huntsville also offers support on a one on one basis. Our trained volunteers provide support to individuals who are dealing with a death of a loved one. Our Program Coordinator carefully matches the individual with a Hospice Huntsville volunteer.
Do you know a child who has lost someone or something close to them?
Do you know a child dealing with the difficult emotions associated with grief?
Do you know a child who needs a safe place to talk about their feelings?
We Are Here to Help
Our six week Children’s Support Program is designed to help children process grief issues due to the loss of a loved one through death, divorce or separation, or the loss of something they treasured, giving them the opportunity to identify and express their feelings in a helpful way.
Our program is for elementary school age children.
Visit our Children’s Support Program page
Referrals accepted throughout the year
Support for high school age students available at Huntsville High School.
Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association
The CHPCA is the national voice for Hospice Palliative Care in Canada. Advancing and advocating for quality end-of-life/hospice palliative care in Canada, its work includes public policy, public education and awareness
Canadian Mental Health Association:
Provides tips and general information on coping with grief and additional supports in local communities.
Information and support on palliative and end of life care, loss and grief.
Bereaved Families of Ontario :
Offers peer based support at no cost to those in need.
Hospice Palliative Care Ontario
Hospice Palliative Care Ontario is a provincial association for hospices and palliative care providers, professionals, and volunteers throughout Ontario.
‘Quality palliative care helps you honour your culture, spirituality and traditions. At LivingMyCulture.ca, people from various cultures share their stories and wisdom about living with serious illness, end of life and grief to support others’
MyGrief.ca: Because losing someone is hard
‘Tools to help you understand grief and work through some of the difficult issues you may be facing’
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Network:
Free group and individual peer-support services offered to families across Ontario.
The Reflection Room
Creating space to pause, reflect and share experiences with dying and death.
‘Grief support for the rest of us. You don’t have to grieve alone. What’s Your Grief? is a place for grief education, articles, sharing, support & more’
A Network of Peer-to-Peer Connections and Community Supports Through All Stages of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)
“We recognize that the support received by a grieving child or youth can significantly influence his/her wellbeing. As a result we aim to connect individuals and organizations who provide services and resources that benefit children and youth who are grieving a death.”
Free online resource that helps parents support their children when someone in their life is dying or has died. It equips parents with the words and confidence to help children grieve life’s losses in healthy ways.
Young adults and teens are shattering the silence of living with advanced illness by creating a webspace of their own. Their stories are unscripted, unfiltered and unforgettable, offering help when it is needed most
Grief One Day at a Time
Author: Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D
365 meditations to help after loss
Healing Grief, Finding Peace
Author: Dr. Louise E. Lagrand
101 Ways to Cope with the death of your loved one.
I Can’t Stop Crying: Grief & Recovery. A Compassionate Guide
Author: John D. Martin
With humanity and understanding, this compassionate guide helps readers navigate through one of life’s most difficult experiences, come to terms with loss, and take steps toward rebuilding life without the one who is gone.
On Life after Death, revised
Author: Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
In this collection of inspirational essays, internationally known author Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross draws on her in-depth research of more than 20,000 people who had near-death experiences, revealing the afterlife as a return to wholeness of spirit. With frank and compassionate advice for those dealing with terminal illness or the death of a loved one,On Life after Death offers a compelling message of hope to the living, so that they may grow stronger from tragedy and live life to the fullest.
I Never Know What to Say: How to Help Your Family and Friends Cope with Tragedy
Author: Nina Hermann Donnelley
Helping Grieving People: When Tears Are Not Enough: A Handbook for Care Providers
Author: J. Shep Jeffreys
A handbook for care providers who provide service, support and counseling to those grieving death, illness, and other losses. This book is also an excellent text for academic courses as well as for staff development training. The author addresses grief as it affects a variety of relationships and discusses different intervention and support strategies, always cognizant of individual and cultural differences in the expression and treatment of grief.
Living Beyond Loss: Death in the Family
Author: Monica McGoldrick
Chapters by leading authorities reveal how the family response to loss affects all members and their relationships across the life cycle and the generations. New chapters address such topics as spirituality, gender issues, suicide and other traumatic deaths, unacknowledged and stigmatized losses, and resilience-based approaches to family and community recovery from major disaster
The Year of Magical Thinking
Author: Joan Didion
Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage–and a life, in good times and bad–that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child.
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