Supporting you through life-threatening illness and grief
I have a life-threatening illness
When you are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, you are affected in many ways including, physically, emotionally and practically. You may struggle to make sense of treatment options, ask questions about the disease or ask “why me?”
I am a caregiver
Our caregiver support group is designed to connect people caring for their person who is dying with other caregivers for peer-to-peer support. Hospice staff and volunteers facilitate the group to be able to help participants connect with resources.
I am grieving a death
Losing a loved one can be a profound experience, and at Hospice Peterborough, we recognize that grief is a natural and individual process. Our grief support programs are designed to provide a comforting space for individuals to share their stories, and find healing in community.
Our residence
Our Hospice Residence opened in April 2019 and provides around the clock professional care in a tranquil environment for 10 residents at the end-of-life. There is always someone to welcome clients and visitors and help everyone find their way.
Hospice Stories
Local Family Thankful for Support After Loss of Parents
After losing both parents, days apart, the Lockyer family shares story of how Hospice supported their family and aims to ensure supports continue to be available to all Susan and Wayne Our parents shared a great love story – one that lasted more than half a century and ended with each of them dying of a broken heart.Many of you might know our father Wayne Lockyer – he co-owned and operated Lockyers’ Garden Centre and was a local minor hockey coach – and our mother Susan Lockyer who worked for many years at the Mapleridge Shoppers Drug Mart and was well-known for her kind soul and spectacular smile.They were happily married for 52 years...
For the Love of Jan
While grieving the loss of a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother, the Paris family thanks Hospice Peterborough for helping them cope and initiates fundraiser in honour of Jan Paris, pledging to match donations Bill Paris has more than 50 years of wonderful memories that he made with his late wife Jan. He recalls meeting her when they both attended Crestwood Secondary School, marrying a few years later and, as a younger man, coming home from an excruciatingly long day at work at Paris Marine and finding Jan sitting on the couch with their newborn twins Julie and Deborah – one in each of her arms nursing a bottle - while she rocked their two-year-old Tracey with her foot....
With Gratitude
“Ross”…This was the simple subject line of a message I received late this morning from a colleague. I knew what it would say before I clicked on it. Ross had died. I did not really know Ross, but hearing of his death hit me harder than I expected. You see, Ross was the first palliative care client that I met after I started working at Hospice Peterborough. He and his partner generously welcomed me into their home, during one of the most intense and painful times imaginable, to help me begin to understand the client work my colleagues do, and why that work is so important. I am forever grateful. I had no idea what to expect as we arrived that July day. It was sunny and hot...
Sacred Space
By: David Kennedy, Supportive Care Counsellor, based on an anonymous client I never thought it could happen this way. Of course, that is what we all say afterwards. Funny thing about life and dying – you have to be doing one or the other but, while doing the one, we forget that the other option can show up anytime. I came to the group reluctantly – that is the easy word – I really came kicking and screaming inside. Yet there was something that pulled me in – curiosity and the idea that perhaps I would find here what I knew I could never find elsewhere. So I came. This is my story. My child was the center of my life. I called him my miracle child. He was a miracle in that I...
Hospice Songs for the Soul
I have had the privilege of being a Hospice Singer since the group began, serendipitously, more than nine years ago. We modeled ourselves after the Hallowell Singers, a group of singers associated with a hospice in Vermont. I would like to share a few words of Kathy Leo, one of the founders of that group: “Bedside singing calls for the singer to be present, to be intuitive and deeply respectful of another’s process, and to be a quiet witness of death. We are not performing. We do not expect an audience. We see this singing as a service – for the person dying before us, for the families saying good-bye to a loved one, for the caregivers working quietly and constantly in the...
Your Feedback Shapes Our Care
As a community hospice, your feedback is crucial in shaping our ongoing efforts and care.
Complete the survey here: surveymonkey.com/r/HP-Client-Family-Survey
This survey is designed for clients, family members, and loved ones connected to any of Hospice Peterborough’s programs and services (current or past). It takes approximately 5 minutes to complete and helps us enhance the quality of our services.
If you prefer to complete the survey over the phone or on paper, please call 705-742-4042 and ask for Intake.
We respectfully acknowledge that Hospice Peterborough is located on the traditional territory of the Michi Saagiig Anishnaabeg. We say miigwech to thank the Michi Saagiig for taking care of this land from time immemorial and for sharing this land with those of us who are newcomers. Out of that gratitude, we are invited to treat the land, its plants, animals, stories, and its peoples with honour and respect.
