Volunteer

Volunteers together founded the new Hopewell House and volunteers together are key to its ongoing work.

Hopewell volunteers are a vital community of specialized teams, serving throughout and beyond our home to sustain every area of operations and caregiving.

Volunteer Events

Volunteer Teams

Our Volunteers

Hopewell volunteers are a generative and life-affirming community of nearly 150 compassionate individuals who surround and support our home with a profusion of skills and talents. Inside, volunteers assist staff in caring for residents and their families, greet visitors, help with housekeeping, kitchen, and maintenance. Volunteer therapists (e.g., massage, acupuncture, Reiki and more) apply their gifts to soothe the bodies and spirits of our entire community. Musicians, artists and pet therapy volunteers warm the home with creativity, beauty, and the joyful presence of animals. Outside, volunteers plant and maintain garden spaces, secure food and flower donations, craft quilts, blankets, and warming items for residents, assist with outreach, communications and more.

In all areas of service at Hopewell House, we seek volunteers who embody the dimensions of diversity, including culture, language, race, gender, and ethnicity, as well as ability. Do you speak a second language or bring a diverse background or set of experiences? We welcome and seek an infusion of a vibrant and inclusive community and hope you’ll apply.  We simply could not exist without our volunteers. 

People Creating a Garden Space
Volunteers working on a fence
Volunteers working on a fence

“I felt somehow that I’d come home, that I’d found something that I’d had once but lost.” – JOAN S. BUELL

Hopewell House Volunteer Teams

Interested in volunteering at Hopewell House?

  • Hopewell House has a variety of volunteer opportunities. Additional information and descriptions are included on this page. Browse the descriptions of the teams that interest you.
  • We are incredibly thankful for the robust support from the community. We are not accepting applications for new volunteers at this time. Thank you for your interest and check back in the fall for openings in the team that interests you. 

Resident and Family Support Team

RSVs bring calm presence and mindful attention to help create the most comfortable, compassionate end-of-life experience possible. They assist clinical staff in providing physical and emotional support to Hopewell House residents and their support systems. RSVs read aloud, offer companionship and personal care, assist with meals, bathing, turning, positioning, and more.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
Completed Application and Successful Interview
Criminal Record and Reference Check
TB/Drug Attestation
Food Handlers Card
Completion of Specific Training Required for Team

COMMITMENT
Four hour shift weekly or bi-weekly for one year minimum.

Not currently accepting applications. Please check back at a later date.

Concierge & Welcome Team

Guided by the values that thoughtful listening and gracious kindness are at the heart of everything we do, Concierge and Welcome Volunteers  (CWVs)  are the first point of contact for visitors, including family, support systems, hospice providers, and other volunteers. CWVs respond to the often subtle ways that people voice their needs, helping to provide the most comfortable, trauma informed, and compassionate end-of-life experience possible for our residents and their family and friends. CWVs answer phones, greet staff and guests, answer questions, maintain logs, and resolve tasks which arise in a day.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
Completed Application and Successful Interview
Criminal Record and Reference Check
TB/Drug Attestation
Food Handlers Card
Completion of Specific Training Required for Team

COMMITMENT
Four hour shift weekly or bi-weekly for one year minimum.

Not currently accepting applications. Please check back at a later date.

Knitting, Crocheting and Quilting Team - Accepting Donations NOW!

A great way to share your time and talents (from home!) by creating colorful quilts, lap blankets and prayer shawls for the comfort of hospice patients (our residents) during their time at Hopewell House. Each resident will be offered a quilt of their choice, handmade by generous and creative community members who have donated their time, talents and materials. Each quilt will remain with the resident during their care and their family will be invited to take the quilt home with them upon the resident’s death. Knitted (or crocheted) lap blankets, prayer shawls, beanies and slippers will be offered as a gift to residents and family members as well.

Quilt Guidelines

Knit and Crochet Guidelines

Accepting Donations for handmade quilts and knitted items (to specifications)

For more information please contact yarnart@fhhpdx.org or quilts@fhhpdx.org

Gardening Team

The Garden Team is a like-minded community, believing that nature can be a place of peace, solace and healing for residents and their families.  The Garden collaborators create lovely outdoor spaces that bring beauty and interest to every resident window and encourage nature’s majesty and serenity for all who come to Hopewell House.  Our garden volunteers may be master gardeners, hobby gardeners or simply those who find pleasure in spending time outdoors.  Come garden with us!

REQUIRED SKILLS AND ABILITIES
A love of nature – A love of gardening a plus.
The ability to work as part of a team.
TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
No training necessary and tools onsite.
Team lead will provide direction.
SCHEDULE
Spring, Summer & Fall – Mondays and Thursdays from 9:30 – 12:00
Winter – Mondays from 9:30 – 12:00
COMMITMENT
Commit to participate 2 to 3 hours weekly or bi-weekly (preferably 1 year)

Not currently able to accept additional applications, please check back at a later date.

Complementary and Alternative Services Team

Hopewell House’s “Complementary and Alternative Services” (CATS Team) includes volunteers from diverse backgrounds who bring an array of healing gifts to Hopewell House. This thoughtful team of healers has vast experience in the spaces of death and dying and are now giving their time and expertise to Hopewell.. Alternative therapies can bring relief and release of physical discomfort and can even play a role in emotional breakthroughs for distressed residents. Hopewell is so fortunate that these amazing volunteers are bringing their healing gifts to help ease this sacred transition.

 

REQUIRED SKILLS AND ABILITIES
Therapeutic expertise in one or more:
Acupuncture
Craniosacral therapy
Energy work (Reiki and healing touch)
Massage
Music and sound
Myofascial release
Personal aesthetics (hair cutting/styling/make-up)
Pet therapy
Aromatherapy

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
Completed Application and Successful Interview
Criminal Record and Reference Check
TB/Drug Attestation
Completion of Specific Training Required for Team

COMMITMENT
Two hour shift weekly or bi-weekly for one year minimum.

Not currently accepting applications. Please check back at a later date.

Kitchen Support

The art of preparing a meal is one of the most tangible ways to show love and service to others.

The Hopewell House Kitchen Team prepares unique meals for each of our residents depending on what they can eat and want to eat. In addition, resident families and friends are daily offered homemade soup, bread, cookies and other baked goods. The Kitchen volunteer works alongside the Cook of the day as a 2 person team. A Volunteer is needed each of two shifts,  seven days a week. Shifts are 2 hour commitments. The Morning shift begins at 7 and encompasses everything from cleaning up overnight dishes, to doing the prep work of chopping for the day ahead.  The Afternoon shift begins at 4 and involves meal service, as well as preparing for the next day, and helping with dishes and clean-up.

This is a role which makes an enormous contribution behind the scenes.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND ABILITIES
Enjoyment of being in a kitchen and washing dishes
The ability to work as part of a team and alignment with Hopewell House Mission and Vision
Completed Application and Successful Interview
Criminal Record and Reference Check
TB/Drug Attestation

TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
Food Handlers Card
Team lead will provide orientation

SCHEDULE
Seven days a week two shifts 7:00 – 9:00 am and 4:00 – 6:00 pm.
Note: depending on volunteer availability there is some flexibility in start time.

COMMITMENT
Committed to serving 1 shift up to 4 a month (preferably 1 year).

Not currently accepting applications. Please check back at a later date.

Community and Volunteer Events

16

Sept 2024

Meditation Monday Morning

8:30 – 8:50 am. HH Community Monday 20 minute compassion and mindfulness meditation weekly practice will occur every Monday @ 8:30.  Led by experienced practitioners this guided meditation provides a valuable opportunity to deepen our practice of compassion and self-awareness. Whether you’re a seasoned mediator or a beginner, we can all benefit from taking a pause and setting intentions for the week ahead.

19

Sept 2024

Sound Healing Meditation Concert

3:00 – 4:00 pm. Sound Healing Meditation Concerts with Shantara Grace bring you into deep meditation where stillness and silence awaits. It’s a profound grounding and reset for your system. Please register if attending by contacting Shantara: http://www.shantaragrace.com/contact. All are welcome but please reserve your spot. Space is limited.

HOPEWELL HOUSE LIVING ROOM

23

Sept 2024

Meditation Monday Morning

8:30 – 8:50 am. HH Community Monday 20 minute compassion and mindfulness meditation weekly practice will occur every Monday @ 8:30.  Led by experienced practitioners this guided meditation provides a valuable opportunity to deepen our practice of compassion and self-awareness. Whether you’re a seasoned mediator or a beginner, we can all benefit from taking a pause and setting intentions for the week ahead.

25

Sept 2024

Writing as an Opportunity to Know Ourselves Better with Emma Avalosa

4:00 – 5:30 pm. We will focus on themes of Loss/Grief/Death/Joy. No writing skills necessary. Practice leaving The Judge at the door.

Facilitated by Emma Avalos Arguedas (she/they), CNA and Team Educator at HH.
Emma has been writing poems since she was a small child and sees writing as a practice to help process the beauty and heartbreak of being human. She has sat with friends who hold Natalie Goldberg’s style of free-writing from the subconscious and will follow Goldberg’s simple format to guide us. Emma is delighted by group writing practice spaces for community building and self discovery. Please bring a notebook and writing utensils – no laptops. All are welcome! Volunteers and staff who participated last month said it was deep and joyful and revelatory in a way that surprised, comforted and delighted them. High praise for a wonderful community offering.

Email Emma to reserve a spot by September 23, or with questions emma.avalosa@fhhpdx.org

HOPEWELL HOUSE LIVING ROOM

28

Sept 2024

Free Workshop: Starting Your Advance Directive

3:00 – 5:00 pm.

Come learn the basics of Advance Directives and create your own with the guidance of local experts! Participants can join a tour of the renovated Hopewell House and learn more about our work. We will start the tour at 3 pm and the presentation about basics of the Advance Directive will follow. This workshop is held in the historic Living Room at Hopewell House, and is limited to the first 12 participants who sign up. 

Facilitators: Eriko Onishi, MD, MCR, PhD, and Stefan Clayton.

RSVP to inquiries@fhhpdx.org to reserve your spot.

HOPEWELL HOUSE LIVING ROOM 

30

Sept 2024

Meditation Monday Morning

8:30 – 8:50 am. HH Community Monday 20 minute compassion and mindfulness meditation weekly practice will occur every Monday @ 8:30.  Led by experienced practitioners this guided meditation provides a valuable opportunity to deepen our practice of compassion and self-awareness. Whether you’re a seasoned mediator or a beginner, we can all benefit from taking a pause and setting intentions for the week ahead.

03

Oct 2024

Sound Healing Meditation Concert

3:00 – 4:00 pm. Sound Healing Meditation Concerts with Shantara Grace bring you into deep meditation where stillness and silence awaits. It’s a profound grounding and reset for your system. Please register if attending by contacting Shantara: http://www.shantaragrace.com/contact. All are welcome but please reserve your spot. Space is limited.

HOPEWELL HOUSE LIVING ROOM

07

Oct 2024

Meditation Monday Morning

8:30 – 8:50 am. HH Community Monday 20 minute compassion and mindfulness meditation weekly practice will occur every Monday @ 8:30.  Led by experienced practitioners this guided meditation provides a valuable opportunity to deepen our practice of compassion and self-awareness. Whether you’re a seasoned mediator or a beginner, we can all benefit from taking a pause and setting intentions for the week ahead.

14

Oct 2024

Meditation Monday Morning

8:30 – 8:50 am. HH Community Monday 20 minute compassion and mindfulness meditation weekly practice will occur every Monday @ 8:30.  Led by experienced practitioners this guided meditation provides a valuable opportunity to deepen our practice of compassion and self-awareness. Whether you’re a seasoned mediator or a beginner, we can all benefit from taking a pause and setting intentions for the week ahead.

17

Oct 2024

Sound Healing Meditation Concert

3:00 – 4:00 pm. Sound Healing Meditation Concerts with Shantara Grace bring you into deep meditation where stillness and silence awaits. It’s a profound grounding and reset for your system. Please register if attending by contacting Shantara: http://www.shantaragrace.com/contact. All are welcome but please reserve your spot. Space is limited.

HOPEWELL HOUSE LIVING ROOM