Volunteers

Zeno Wisniewski is surprised when strangers hug him at wakes. A career counselor by day, he is a hospice volunteer at night and on weekends. He is willing to do odd jobs, at any hour, for people he doesn’t know. He watches movies with them, reads books, thumbs through old photo albums -- whatever people ask him to do. He says he mostly listens. What he hears people talk about is relationships. “It is always about relationships. Whether it is family, a friend they use to fish with, a great pal or a favorite nephew.”

Trained in pastoral care at his church, Zeno began his volunteer work by visiting nursing homes. He learned that many people die alone. “I would go into someone’s room I had been visiting and see that they were gone. Their passing seemed so insignificant with no one there to acknowledge it.” Through hospice, he is available to hold vigil with a patient who is dying and alone. “It was tough the first time, but I went back and found it easier the second and third time. It starts to feel right after awhile.” Vigil volunteers are called during the active process of dying, when the life span is only hours or minutes. The volunteers work in two-hour shifts, bedside.

When on vigil he says the breath hypnotizes him. He doesn’t know how to describe the feeling when the last breath comes except to say: “It’s peaceful in that they were with someone, even if it’s a stranger.”

He chose to volunteer at hospice because the focus is on palliative care. Volunteers often say they get more from the experience than they give. Zeno agrees, “I get a deep sense of personal satisfaction. This work adds a lot of heart value. I feel honored that people let me into their homes. Their time is precious.” This is his seventh year as a hospice volunteer. He says he has learned from the people he talks with what is important in life. “Some people learn that late, if ever. I’m lucky.”