Volunteers earn kudos for care

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SCCA volunteers reach beyond clinic doors to offer patients, families support in 24 different languages

Volunteer Anna Nelson (right) assists Billy Hyatt, a patient at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Nelson has served as a volunteer concierge since 1993, but she began donating her time and interests by making quilts for patients during the Hutchinson Center's early years. Photo by Stephanie Cartier

Packing up and moving to another part of the country is always a challenge. Finding a place to live, figuring out how to get around and trying to make new friends are all common sources of stress. When the move is for cancer treatment, the stress level can increase exponentially. But volunteers at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance are making a big difference in the some of the personal struggles faced by cancer patients and their families.

The volunteer program at the SCCA meets those struggles head-on, armed with bright smiles, open arms and hands that are always willing to help. Volunteers pick patients up from the airport, help them find housing — and the nearest grocery store — and do anything else one might expect from a close friend. It's a level of service that recently earned the program the first Program Excellence Award ever given by the Washington State Society of Directors of Volunteer Services.

Erica Karlovits, manager of Volunteer Services at SCCA, is a member of the society, and said she is proud of the work done by the SCCA volunteers. "We have an incredibly unique volunteer program, especially our patient-family volunteer program. And I think the committee felt that there wasn't really anything else like this in the state. The support that our volunteers provide for our patients and families is exceptional, so it's very exciting."

Many times, a patient and family's first impressions of the SCCA come from a volunteer, and that impression makes a big difference. "They find that it's a service they don't see at other clinics or hospitals around the country," Karlovits said. "A lot of our families come here for consultations to find what treatment option is best and what site for care is best. They get their first exposure to our volunteers during those consult visits when a volunteer picks them up at the airport and takes them on a housing and inpatient tour. They see that customer service extends far beyond the clinic."

But it's only natural that SCCA volunteers would be willing to go above and beyond; they know the stress cancer brings. Many volunteers have either fought cancer themselves or been by the side of a family member or close friend through their battle. That intimate knowledge of the disease, combined with a willingness to help, is life changing.

So they serve wherever can — by greeting people at the front desk of the SCCA, by playing at the bedside of young patients or in the playroom for children of patients, by driving families to and from the airport. In fact, the volunteers have driven enough miles to go around the world four and a half times. Those miles, and hours, build strong bonds.

"Those relationships don't go away — they're like family to me," said Kendra Howe, a patient-family volunteer and president of the Volunteer Advisory Council. "I've seen their kids grow up."

31,000 hours per year

Howe keeps in touch with most of her patients, some of whom she worked with as long as eight years ago, and plans to attend a wedding of a former patient this November. "We're that consistent presence through the highs and lows," she said. "They don't have to catch us up because we already have basic knowledge of what's going on. We are that ear, that home away from home, and we really do become friends."

Those friendships can span the globe. Because patients can come from literally anywhere, volunteers speak a combined 24 languages. By providing familiarity through uncertain times, volunteers possess a unique ability to reach out and make life a little more comfortable for patients.

Volunteers log a total of 31,000 hours per year, and every one of them interacts with patients and families directly; there are no clerical positions. "You don't just sign up for two hours a week to stuff envelopes; you're involved in someone's life," Howe said. "What we do is very valuable."

So valuable, in fact, that the work done by volunteers would otherwise take 15 full-time employees. "It's quite a benefit to the clinic. If you look at the value of a volunteer hour, it's about $562,000 in savings to our clinic," Karlovits said.

Without the volunteer program, the SCCA would be missing a tremendous resource. "I think it would still be an excellent organization. I think it would provide excellent care, but I think a lot of our volunteers do what our staff cannot. They go beyond the front doors of the clinic to serve our families outside in the world; it's bridging the gap between our care providers and their families," Karlovits said.

That gap includes social events like carnivals, hotel pool games like Marco Polo and Academy Award-watching parties planned with infection-control standards in mind. "It's wonderful to see that conversation and laughter that goes on out there. It makes a really difficult time a little bit easier," Karlovits said.

Through both the difficult and the good times, the volunteers are there to be a helpful and friendly face, for the patient and the patient's family as well. Keeping a balance between treatments and family life is a big part of how the volunteers help patients and families.

"Individuals aren't diagnosed with cancer; families are, communities are," Howe said. "My favorite part of being an SCCA volunteer is that I'm there to help all of the people who have been diagnosed. I'm here to help remind them that they are more than cancer patients or families of cancer patients — they're still human beings."

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Become an SCCA volunteer; orientation begins Oct. 23

If you or someone you know is interested in becoming an SCCA volunteer, contact Susan Greenwood at (206) 288-1072.

For more information and an application, visit www.seattlecca.org/aboutscca/volunteer. The next orientation for new volunteers begins Monday, Oct. 23.

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