Volunteer

Volunteers founded the new Hopewell House and volunteers 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 life-affirming community of nearly 150 compassionate people who support our home with a variety of skills and talents. 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. Volunteers plant and maintain garden spaces, secure food and flower donations, craft quilts and blankets, and volunteers assist with outreach and communications.

We seek diverse volunteers from different races, ethnicities, cultures, genders and sexual orientations. Do you speak a second language or bring a diverse background, set of experiences or abilities? We welcome a vibrant and inclusive community and hope you’ll apply.  

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 Life Support Team

Our resident life volunteers 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 friends and families. These volunteers 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 a minimum of one year.

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, friends, hospice providers, and other volunteers. These volunteers 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 a minimum of one year.

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 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. Garden volunteers create lovely outdoor spaces that bring beauty 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 (starting in November)
COMMITMENT
2 to 3 hours weekly or bi-weekly. Preferably for at least one year.

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

Complementary and Alternative Services Team

Hopewell House’s Complementary and Alternative Services Team includes volunteers from diverse backgrounds who bring an array of healing gifts.  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 a minimum of one year.

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 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 two-person team. Volunteers are needed every day of the week. Shifts are two hours. The morning shift begins at 7 a.m. and includes everything from cleaning up overnight dishes, to doing the prep work of chopping for the day ahead. The afternoon shift begins at 4 p.m. 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
One to four shifts per month, perferable for one year.

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

Contemplative Care Team

Contemplative care volunteers attend to the emotional support of residents and their loved ones. This includes extended and focused presence, as well as spiritual support. Volunteers respond to the many, often subtle, ways that residents voice their needs, helping residents and their loved ones have the most comfortable and compassionate end-of-life experience possible.

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

Two-hour shift weekly or bi-weekly for a one year minimum

RESPONSIBILTIES MAY INCLUDE

  • Ease the way for residents and their loved ones during the dying time – there is a lot to “figure out” and move through during residency at Hopewell House, and matters of the heart are a part of the process for residents and their loved ones.

  • Identify personal and culturally respectful support that resonates with residents’ and families’ spiritual and heart-based beliefs and identities.

  • Provide deep listening, authentic presence for matters of the heart and mind that residents and their loved ones want to talk about.

  • Identify relevant music, prayers, readings, or other relevant supports for residents and their loved ones.

  • Assist with sacred transitional ceremonies for individuals in the dying time.

  • Tend to grief and sit vigil.

 

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

Community and Volunteer Events

05

Dec 2024

Sound Healing Meditation Concert

Thursday 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

09

Dec 2024

Meditation Monday Morning

Monday 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.

10

Dec 2024

Volunteer Book Club

Tuesday 2:00 – 3:30 pm. Book: The Five Invitations by Frank Ostaseski. Frank Ostaseski is the co-founder of The Zen Hospice Project and a leader in the field of end-of-life care. The book’s five “invitations” can be understood as best practices for anyone navigating a life transition, coping with loss or serious illness or a personal crisis. Join volunteer and discussion leader Cheryl Nutting to discuss this month’s book.

RSVP: If you plan on attending please RSVP to Cheryl Nutting to csnutting@aol.com

HOPEWELL HOUSE LIVING ROOM

16

Dec 2024

Meditation Monday Morning

Monday 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.

16

Dec 2024

December Grief Ritual

Monday 6:30 – 8:00 pm. Grief Ritual is the practice of metabolizing individual and collective grief in the circle of community. In the Western Hemisphere, many of us learned to grieve alone, or to distance ourselves from our grief because the pain is too great. Grief Ritual is an opportunity to deepen our relationship with our grief, witness and honor others’ grief, and cultivate a sense of resilience and belonging. All shapes of grief belong. All community members are welcome. Offered the third Mondays every month.
Facilitators: Brooke Lesley and Ashlie Hempstead
https://www.arcandcoil.com/

HOPEWELL HOUSE HOPE ROOM

23

Dec 2024

Meditation Monday Morning

Monday 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.

30

Dec 2024

Meditation Monday Morning

Monday 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.