Hospice Muskoka Volunteer Mentors

This is another ShoutOut for both Hospice Muskoka, and a Muskokan, Elke Scholz  (author/artist, expressive arts therapist), and her Expressive Arts Therapy Bereavement classes. Below you can see the 4 teen mentors, Elke, and myself. Thanks for the parent who took the photo! I never seem to be in photos!! Two of our student mentors (as I recall!) attend St. Dom's, in Bracebridge. Our previous group of mentors, in the fall 6-week course, were fabulous students.

 Elke does individual arts therapy, but also works in schools, and with groups like Hospice Muskoka. Our work includes both children and adults. This particular group, mentored by the four young ladies (left), all high school students, worked with our clients, ages 7 to 11. These are photos of our student's work. We do not post photos of our clients, but their work is fabulous!

I am a trained Hospice Volunteer and I currently have an individual client, I visit her in her home, as well as working with this group. Volunteers receive training and participate in various conferences and training sessions. I have had the Foundations Palliative Care Course, as well as doing personal research into the general area of senior health. I will be speaking at the June 9th NSM Palliative Care Conference at Casino Rama.

Hospice Muskoka is funded 30% by the province (your tax dollars at work), and 70% through donations. We work in homes, act as friendly visitors to those in long-term care, as well as South Muskoka Memorial Hospital. In this, volunteer appreciation week, I like to laud our volunteers who try to make a difference. In fact, when you volunteer, the gifts you receive are incredible. I have had two palliative clients, and both have given me so much in return.

There were two volunteers with our latest group, myself and Mary, another volunteer with Hospice Muskoka. She also volunteered at the Hospice Muskoka Valentine fundraiser, held in Bracebridge, and Mary was unable to attend last night's celebration of our 10-week workshops. This is a February photo!

Volunteerism in Ontario is a hot topic these days, as the Ministry expects more work to be done who may simply be untrained neighbours. They expect families to take up the slack, too. I am glad that Muskoka has a strong group of volunteers, and one of the few children's bereavement programs in Ontario. I am glad, too that Hospice Muskoka has so many keen volunteers in all areas.

Plus ça change

plus c'est la même chose ...
Easter weekend was glorious. The sky was blue. No grumpies in the coffee shops and post office. The sky was blue, the wind blew, and the water was poured.

Our granddaughter sat on the deck and sipped her juice, while crayoning happily.

A picnic on the deck, playtime in the water.

then a well-made lasagna for all.
It doesn't get any better than this!
I knew it would come to an end.
Weather-addict hubby forecast it.
And we had the snow tires taken off of the car...

Poor old Bob IV (or is he Bob V?), covered in teency-weency hailstones. And snow flurries all day. (His job is to hold down the BBQ cover in high winds. He's doing a fine job.)

The green pines look happy, the fragrant cedar more than pleased with the previous days rain,


but the deck...
Yes, we have rain this week. But, no, this is not all we have had.

For skywatch Friday (can't see the sky!), a bit late due to volunteer work with Expressive Art Therapist Elke Scholz ...see the photo slide show!

Expressive Arts in Muskoka

Elke Scholz

Elke Scholz is a local artisan. Not only that, she is an Expressive Art Therapist. After a fabulous 6-week course, Elke Scholz guided her precious clients and their gr. 11 volunteer mentors through workshops in which art was integrated with grief work.

For, dealing with grief is work. Work some of us work through all our lives.


Elke held Expressive Arts therapy courses twice a week through the auspices of Hospice Muskoka, for two age groups. She is available, too, for private consultations.  It was my privilege to assist her, and the group throughout the 6-weeks of classes.

What was especially delightful, were the Gr. 11 students from St. Dominic's H.S., part of a larger group taking a mentoring class. They are amazing young people, with big hearts and a special way with their 8 to 10-year old clients.

Two of the students, Lily and Katie, have their own blogs! They are committed, and dedicated volunteers.

We painted, drew, coloured, and used clay over the weeks, integrating grief work with our play. We played games, used instruments, talked about our feelings and emotions either within our small group, or in pairs. 

For privacy reasons, I cannot show you photos of our our group. I can feature a photo of Elke, an attractive, intelligent, caring woman.

I spent one class taking photos of the bottled feelings activity, and another of their hands as they worked with the clay. The full set of photos is available in my Picasa folder. I created a video to explain one of the reasons why we need to unbottle our feelings and let them out. This is a demonstration we participated in at The Hospice Youth Expressive Arts Grief and Loss Recovery Program by Elke Scholz.


The evening was a celebration as we decorated the walls with the paintings we had created, as well as various posters. We had information presentations by two other groups in Muskoka:
1. The Big Brother & Big Sister Muskoka program
2. The YWCA's GirlzUnplugged Program is one for which Muskoka thankfully receives funding. For girls ages 9 to 14, they have a chance to build skills and deal with sensitive issues. Funding has now been extended to boys, too!


The final celebration, Open House evening also included gifts for mentors and myself, as a volunteer, from both Elke and Jim Brown, of Muskoka Bay Pottery. Very kind of these special artists who continually support the community. Jim's gallery hosted Hospice Muskoka's Butterfly Ball
Butterfly Ball last year!

What a special group of kids we have in our midst. Mentors, give yourselves a pat-on-the-back!

For more information on Expressive Art therapy, see

•  What is Expressive Arts? on Elke's page.

See, also, several YouTube videos explaining other programs.

• What is Art Therapy? 
• Art Therapy with Hospitalized Children This is the trailer to the upcoming film, Art Therapy with Hospitalized Children: Making a Creative Difference by Cathy Malchiodi 
• BJC Hospice Expressive Therapy for Children

Hospice news from this past year: Hospice Muskoka Opens a New Palliative Care Room
Art therapy for seniors with dementia

My world Tuesday

My World Tuesday, => actually photos from my world as I made my rounds around Muskoka on Monday.

Visitors make a difference. I visited my friend in LTC and saw this woman on her way back to her room after dinner. It is a lovely residence, if you are unable to cook, clean and manage ADLs for yourself. There is laughter and love, despite underfunding in this government-run institution. I visit weekly. I wrote about Michele in my book, and she is so proud. I am going to help her write her obituary this week. She is planning her funeral.

Sometimes you just have to laugh. A belated birthday present for the old guy. He can even sing the whole Mickey Mouse song. Watch for it on YouTube! :-)

 

Love makes the world go around. A mentor and her client show their expressive art theme.

It is best to hold someone's hand.

In fact the photos were taken at The Hospice Youth Expressive Arts Grief & Loss Recovery Program, facilitated by Elke Scholz.

One young girl made a representation of herself and her mentor in the photo below. We were so moved. Such a simple means by which we honour our clients and recognize how important therapy is for a child.