Chaplain Internship Experience with Hope

"As a chaplain intern, I had the privilege to serve both patients and their loved ones. I was fortunate to be with both my mother and sister as they passed, and it was that experience that started me on the path of chaplaincy.

There is a sense of connection when working with people in hospice -- a sense of connection, ironically, I can only equate with when my children were new-borns. After their late night/early morning nursing, I would walk with them, be with them and look into their eyes. No expectations. No agenda, but simply looking into their eyes and being with them. The sense of love, of connection, was like nothing else I had experienced until then....

Now with patients and their families, I once again have the opportunity to experience this same incredibly deep sense of connection. To just be with them, to be there for them. No agenda. No expectation. No "fixing", but simply to hold a hand, to look into their eyes. To support them. To be with them. To share spiritually with them this most profound of human experiences.

The staff at Hope Hospice share this sense of connection with me. In my conversations with our social worker, Meghan, our director, Sara, with our head nurse, Aleksandra, and with our chaplain Steven, we all have shared our deep sense of connection we feel with the patients and families we serve.

To be in a community of such dedicated and caring people, to share with them and be supported by them, was truly inspirational.

My "formal" Clinical Pastoral Education internship ended when I finished my school term -- but my experiences at Hope have had such a powerful impact that I will personally continue to volunteer at Hope Hospice even though I no longer need to fulfill any educational requirement by doing so.

The work I do at Hope Hospice and the working with the staff there has become so fulfilling, I can not imagine life without it.....”