St. Joseph's Manor 

Nursing Station Volunteers
Volunteers at St. Joseph's Manor, Holy Redeemer's long-term care and assisted living facility, work at nursing stations during meal times so that staff are free to help feed residents. Volunteers answer phones, do light clerical work, respond to inquiries and provide customer service. St. Joseph's Manor is located adjacent to Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center. Volunteer hours are 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week. Any time commitment is appreciated.

Holy Redeemer Home Care & Hospice

Patient Care Volunteers
Patient care volunteers provide emotional support and companionship to hospice patients and families during an often stressful time. Volunteers make visits to homes, long-term care facilities and our in-patient hospice unit, and they provide the gift of presence. This might mean reading to patients, preparing a snack, providing companionship or encouraging them to talk about their life. Volunteers also provide a few hours of respite to weary caregivers. We seek individuals who are emotionally mature, flexible and compassionate to join our team. No prior experience is needed as our 16-hour training program prepares volunteers for their new role. Training sessions are offered during the day and evening hours for your convenience.

Bereavement Volunteers
Grief is unique. No two people grieve the loss of a loved one in the same way. Bereavement volunteers learn to appreciate and affirm the different paths of a survivor’s “grief journey”. These volunteers make reassurance telephone calls and visits to surviving family members and caregivers. They provide companionship and emotional support to help survivors learn to live without a loved one. Training is provided to prepare volunteers for this rewarding opportunity. 

Healing Touch, Reflexology, Massage, Art and Music Therapy Volunteers
Individuals certified in reflexology, massage, Healing Touch, art, aroma or music therapy are invited to share their skills and become apart of our innovative complementary therapy program as they provide care and comfort to hospice patients and family caregivers. In hospice, people facing advanced disease often have symptoms related to the illness as well as stress-related symptoms. Our training program teaches others about the therapeutic value of complementary therapy while enabling volunteers to utilize existing skills in a variety of hospice settings. Therapists seeking national certification and additional clinical hours are also encouraged to volunteer to gain additional experience with our hospice staff. 

Pet Therapy
Our program utilizes certified therapy dogs and their owners to support the hospice patient in the long-term care setting. Pet therapy has been shown to increase pain tolerance, reduce stress, lower blood pressure and bring smiles. It is especially useful in the hospice setting for patients who have withdrawn from the people around them but find interacting with an animal comforting. If you are considering volunteering your certified dog, do consider your pet’s temperament. A pet therapy animal should be calm and able to tolerate sudden loud noises and groping hands. The animal should also be accepting of friendly strangers and be able to sit calmly to be touched and pet. Older pets typically make the best hospice volunteers. Pet owners receive training to understand the unique needs of hospice patients and families.

Other Patient and Resident Relations Volunteer Opportunities include:

• Dining/feeding assistants
• Emergency support service
• Physical and occupational therapy assistants
• Surgical support services
• Maternal/child health support services

For more information please call 215-938-3238 or complete our volunteer form.