Home Hospice Association
Hamilton-Halton Chapter
Our mission is to ensure that anyone facing death and their loved ones have equitable access to quality end-of-life care and support. By working with our agency partners and volunteers within the Hamilton-Halton region, we’re able to mobilize hospice palliative care cost effectively and expediently, continuously drawing the circle of care wider.
With a focus on dignity, compassion, and culturally sensitive human connection, Home Hospice Association empowers communities to help people die wherever they call home.
Hamilton-Halton Chapter Directors, Officers & Local Leadership
If you’re passionate about wanting to provide equitable access to quality end-of-life care in our community and would like to join our Chapter Board or Become a Chapter Board Member, we’d love to hear from you! Email volunteer@homehospiceassociation.org and we’ll follow up with you.
It Takes a Village: Thank you to our Chapter Partners!
If your agency or organization serves clients or patients nearing the end of life, we can help you make care for these people and their loved ones even more accessible and holistic. Visit our community partnerships page to learn how we work with our agency partners to increase access to compassionate end-of-life care across Canada.
Be part of our future and partner with our Chapter today!
Follow us on Facebook to find out about all the great things happening in our Chapter!
How We Help
Metis Nation of Ontario
Home Hospice Association has partnered with the MNO to support the development of end-of-life education, services and support systems for its citizens. From the customization of our Compassionate Caregiving online training to the mobilization of Death Doulas, we’re committed to meeting the cultural, social and spiritual needs of the MNO in collaboration with their existing staff and front-line workers. We began working with the MNO in March with a three-day Compassionate Caregiving and Death Awareness Workshop at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Toronto (see photos here!), and will continue to work with their 37 communities to develop and implement care for their members facing death and those who love and care for them.
Our Babies, Our Grief
Through HHA’s Our Babies, Our Grief progressive healing group model, our trained Chapter leaders support those who have experienced Pregnancy and Infant Loss - whether the loss occurred days ago or decades ago.
Our Chapter's Lisa Bonneville, along with Glen Burkholder and Alexander Palmer, will be hosting an in-person six-week progressive healing group in Milton (fall dates and locations coming soon). At this time, Our Babies, Our Grief is also offered online as both a six-week progressive healing group and monthly virtual drop-in.
Professional Caregiver Community
Our Chapter supports Hamilton-Halton's professional caregiver community - the "Forgotten Responders" who take over from where First Responders leave off. For example, through education and support, such as our “When Labour Leads to Loss” workshop, we train funeral professionals how to care for those who have experienced pregnancy of infant loss.
C.A.N.D.Y. Café
C.A.N.D.Y. Café is part of HHA’s Death Education Program, and is designed to promote communities where experiences of death, dying and grief can be openly discussed and explored with young people. As parents, guardians, and caregivers, it is our responsibility to ensure young people know it’s okay to talk about death and learn healthy ways of coping with grief.
Our Chapter Champion Terri is the C.A.N.D.Y. Café Program Manager and regularly offers Talking with Kids about Dying, Death & Grief workshops and professional development training courses in the Hamilton-Halton area.
Death Education
Hamilton Public Library
Our partnership with the Hamilton Public Library continues to allow our Chapter to engage and educate young people and their caregivers on the topics of dying, death and grief.
If you're part of a library, community centre or other youth-focussed group that would like to bring our "Creating Awareness and Normalizing Death for Youth" (C.A.N.D.Y.) program to your organization, contact our Chapter Champion and the program's manager, Terri.
Death Doula Mentorship
Given that the Death Doula community is such a vital part of how we can effectively mobilize compassionate end-of-life care, supporting the on-going mentorship and training of HHA Death Doulas and Candidates in the Hamilton-Halton region is one of our Chapter’s key priorities. If you are an HHA Death or Infant & Pregnancy Loss Doula / Candidate be sure to check out our Doula Social & Training Calendar of events.
If you're interested in Becoming a Death Doula or Infant & Pregnancy Loss Doula, check out our Certificate Programs and upcoming training dates.
Community Workshops
We provide our educational workshops and presentations free of charge for organizations across the Hamilton-Halton region, thanks to local organizations, such as CARP (Canadian Association of Retired Professionals).
Learn more about our community workshops and presentations and how you can invite us to your organization!
Fundraising
Moonlit Memory Walk
HHA’s annual Moonlit Memory Walk fundraiser helps us raise awareness for the amazing work we’re doing in our Chapter. Plus, the funds collected from this event stay in our community, helping to improve compassionate end-of-life care and support right here in Hamilton-Halton!
This year, it's happening on October 17, 2024, at McKersie & Early Funeral Home in Hamilton. Visit our page on the Moonlit Memory Walk website to learn more, and a special thank you to Rebecca Hunter, co-owner of McKersie & Early Funeral Home, for hosting our walk this year!
We hope to see you there! And if you're interested in helping to plan this event in your community or volunteering on-site during the event, check out our Moonlit Memory Walk volunteer opportunities.
Follow us on Facebook to stay up-to-date on all things Moonlit Memory Walk!
The Bello Project & PAWcasso's Studio
Our Chapter is committed to keeping pets and their owners together when the owner is facing death with HHA's Bello Project program. We also raise money for the Bello Project with our PAWcasso’s Studio fundraising pop-up event.
Get Involved
Compassionate Caregiving Volunteers
We continue to be committed to ensuring that we have a growing and vibrant community of compassionate caregivers to support the front-line care work needed across our Chapter. Having enough volunteers also allows us to establish new programs in our Chapter and support even more members of our communities.
If you’re interested in becoming a Compassionate Care Volunteer in the Hamilton-Halton region, please reach out to us about taking our Compassionate Caregiving Training.
Prison Hospice Pilot Project Volunteers
Our Chapter actively participates in the National Board's Pilot Project group working on how to provide equitable access to end-of-life care within both the national and provincial prison system.
We're looking for dedicated individuals who believe that we all deserve dignity and compassion at the end of our lives to help us with our new Prison Hospice Pilot Project. The goal of this project is to build and mobilize a complete care offering that addresses the dying, death and grief needs of the incarcerated population, those paroled, and those who love and/or care for them.
We’re specifically looking for people who have experience in one or more of the following areas:
Project management and Team engagement
Social work or Social services work
End-of-life care, Death Doulas
Marketing and/or Fundraising
Experience working with the prison population and/or their families
If you’re interested in joining our Project Working Team, please fill out our Volunteer Application and specify “Prison Hospice Pilot” on the form.
