Former Navy Captain is 'all in' as hospice volunteer

There are different levels of volunteering.

There is the “just show up” level. Gardens need weeding, phones need answering, envelopes need stuffing. You feel good, knowing you have helped and the people you helped are appreciative. It’s a check mark on an important task list.

Then there is the “all in” volunteer. People depend on your comings and goings – it could be a commitment that lasts a week, or it could go on for months.

Being a hospice patient care volunteer is an “all in” position. You need to be trained for it. You need to be willing to stay with the patient and her or his family through the end. And it can be heartbreaking.

It can also be the most important thing you do in your life.

“It’s a very rewarding experience. It is very challenging, but it’s extremely meaningful,” Paul Mullenhoff said. Like many at Hospice of the Chesapeake, Mullenhoff became a patient care volunteer to give back. The Bowie man cared for his wife after she was stricken with cancer, unaware of hospice benefits. After a friend suggested he contact Hospice of the Chesapeake, he not only was overwhelmed by the care his wife received, but also the care that he received. The most precious gift he got was being able to spend the final six weeks of his wife’s life with her more as a friend and husband, and less as a care provider.

“That’s why I always reach out to the caregiver,” he said. He understands what they are going through, first hand.

That connection is even more powerful for patients who are Veterans. Mullenhoff, who a former Navy captain who served from 1960 to 1963, and then later in the Reserves until 1990, said there is an instant connection when a Veteran patient learns he also served. “I feel that it makes a much stronger bond,” he said. “We’re related. We’ve done the same kinds of things.”

That common language and experience is an essential part of delivering quality hospice care. That is why the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization collaborated with the Department of Veterans Affairs to create the We Honor Veterans program, of which the Veteran-to-Veteran Volunteer program is a critical part. Program partners like Hospice of the Chesapeake use resources and education provided by the NHPCO and the VA to help Veteran Volunteers care for Veteran patients and their families.

With more than 25 percent of Hospice of the Chesapeake patients having served in the military, the need for Patient Care Volunteers who also are Veterans is growing. When one considers the training and time commitment involved, becoming a Vet-to-Vet Volunteer can be intimidating for many. But for those looking for a volunteer experience that can be life changing – not only for the patient and the family but for the volunteer, as well – Mullenhoff said it is well worth the effort. “There is a great deal of self-satisfaction when you are working with Veterans,” he said.

Recently, he was pulled away from his role as a Veteran Patient Care Volunteer as he helped the Hospice of the Chesapeake’s We Honor Veterans Committee with the paperwork and planning required in achieving the highest level in the national We Honor Veterans program. With that complete, he is anxious to get back to his Vet-to-Vet volunteering duties.

“I told (the Volunteer Department) that I want to be back with the patients,” he said. “It’s where I want to be.”

For more information about the We Honor Veterans program at Hospice of the Chesapeake, visit www.hospicechesapeake.org/the-life-center-109/we-honor-veterans-program. To volunteer, contact Volunteer Coordinator Allison Kuchar at 443-837-1513 or akuchar@hospicechesapeake.org.