TOGETHER AGAIN: CIRCLE OF LIFE!

We were so grateful that after a three-year pause, we were able once again to gather in the Bobby Keen classroom at Hancock Health to host our annual Circle of Life Luminary Service. This is a special program for our staff and all the families we support through the years in hospice care. This special memorial program involves a welcome from staff, a message of hope, music from the Greenfield Community Choir, and culminates in the lighting of luminaries in honor of the loved ones we’ve lost. Families come as groups to remember and include their loved ones in their holidays, and we are all so glad to see these families who have been so dear to us during some of the most difficult times of their lives.

Other Bereavement Support

We offer two memorial services a year the Circle of Life service in early December, and a spring memorial service as well. In 2022, the Noblesville/Lebanon team offered a memorial service for those in their service area, which marked a new milestone in the growth of that team (well done, Chaplain Josh!).

In addition to memorial services, we have a weekly drop-in grief group at the Hancock Wellness Center (every Friday morning at 10am), ongoing supportive phone calls, visits (as desired by families), mailings, and our Yoga for Grief Relief class, which is offered several times a year and began meeting again in person (after a COVID hiatus) in 2022.

Other Additions In Bereavement Care

In 2022 we also did a staff training related to anticipatory grief, which can help all those providing care to understand and support the early stages of loss families experience while their loved ones are nearing the end of life.

We also added the possibility for bereavement visits for families following their loss, in which chaplains or social workers can visit families and take resources or simply listen and provide support. We continue to expand our practice and tailor what we do to the needs of each family we serve.