There is much to do as Harmony House of Western Massachusetts, a home for the terminally ill, prepares to open at a new location in the Aldenville section of Chicopee.
One of the biggest needs in the need for volunteers.
“Since we do not have any funding other than donations and grants, we rely on volunteers to help staff with all aspects of providing a clean, safe environment for our residents as well as providing companionship and assistance with daily care such as meal prep and bathing,” said Gina L. Mazza, president of the Board of Directors of Harmony House. “Essentially, we become the surrogate family when the residents are living at the Harmony House.”
Help also is needed with routine cleaning and maintenance of the house, laundry and office type tasks.
“Harmony House is a home. Our volunteers are very special people and they really are at the heart of what we offer to our neighbors in need,” she added.
Harmony House was founded by the late Ruth Willemain, a school teacher and a hospice volunteer. “She had a strong desire and calling to help ensure that individuals were not alone at the end of their life,” Mazza said.
Willemain opened Harmony House in 2007 to provide a home and companionship to hospice patients who could no longer remain in their own home. These individuals remain on hospice care with their hospice team while living at the Harmony House, the mission of which is to be a home, providing shelter with compassionate care for terminally ill individuals.
After closing the original home in 2019 and purchasing a house for renovation, the COVID-19 pandemic struck and the plans were put on hold. But after a massive reconstruction, it is hoped that Harmony House will reopen in the near future in the new home at 66 View St.
Harmony House served about 20 people each year before the pandemic; the previous home had one bedroom available. The new home has five private bedrooms, multiple bathrooms as well as common space that offers a large kitchen, a living room and a small chapel.
Mazza hopes volunteers will fill about 100 four-hour blocks of time. “We understand that volunteers are volunteers and can’t always make big time commitments,” she said, so each volunteer is asked to consider volunteering for at least two four-hour blocks a week if possible.
The goal is to be open to accepting residents in early spring. “To do that, we have to have staff and volunteers trained and ready to care for our residents. That’s why we are recruiting now in an effort to be ready to open soon,” Mazza said.
All volunteers are trained by Harmony House’s team of educators, led by a physician and a team of nurses — all with end-of-life and hospice expertise. Volunteers are asked to do some training on their own online; some components will be in-person at the Harmony House.
For more information or to become a volunteer, contact Harmony House at 413-315-9784 or send an email harmonyhousewma@gmail.com.
