Every day is a gift – that is why they call it the present. The future depends on what we do in the present. As the year comes to an end HospiceCare of Southeast Florida sees a bright and innovative future for 2008. The main focus for the upcoming year is an awareness campaign to broaden outreach through volunteers, create expansion of services through bereavement camps and centers in Miami-Dade and the Keys while focusing on the expansion of the Hospice programs to include children.

HospiceCare services and support can only be accomplished with the help and support from our volunteers. Our volunteers are the heart of Hospice and give much more than time, they assist us in providing a quality of life. They are the backbone behind Hospice without them we could not do what we do. In the upcoming year, we want to invite the community we serve to assist us through a variety of volunteer opportunities.

Music Therapy at Camp Coral.

Camp Coral, a bereavement camp for children in Broward County, has received an overwhelming response. Children ages 6-13 congregate together during a weekend retreat and share the tender issues many of us do not see in our everyday lives. This camp allows these children to grieve, bond and heal together. Hospice seeks an outreach program to expand this camp to the areas of Miami-Dade and the Keys.

In June of 2005, HospiceCare dedicated the Forget-Me-Not Center in Fort Lauderdale. This is a sacred home like setting where individuals are offered bereavement support, art therapy, group or private counseling, or just a place of solitude and reflection. A bereavement center is an important part of the healing process and through the Hospice awareness campaign we envision an expansion into Miami-Dade and the Keys. This awareness will give the families the ability to heal through these centers.

HospiceCare volunteers at a recent fundraiser.

When we hear of Hospice many of us think of the elderly but there are other little ones in need. HospiceCare reaches out to younger clients and families by producing resources, counseling, pediatric medical care needs and wholesome support that is desired in these emotional situations. HospiceCare has cared for patients from one day old to one hundred and one. We will continue to expand our realm to all ages while meeting the needs of the community we serve. HospiceCare is actively searching for partners and supporters to assist in the growth of these programs.

A natural progression for Hospice is to move in this way by promoting bereavement centers and camps, awareness through volunteers, and resources to younger clients. HospiceCare continues to produce the highest standards of care in efforts of moving forward while fulfilling the needs of patients and their families for years to come.