Not-for-profit Haynes House of Hope: End of life care in a home setting

By Caroline Martindale, Chronicle Staff Writer

Caring for terminally ill patients is a difficult task, but Bonnie Underwood, Executive Director of Haynes House of Hope in Granville, says the experience is more than rewarding.

“It is a passion I have,” she told The Chronicle. “In the different settings I’ve worked in I saw people dying. A lot of the time I thought they weren’t dying with the dignity they deserved. Society needs to see that the end of life is part of living.”

Ms. Underwood has more than 38 years of nursing experience in hospitals and hospice care. She has been the Executive Director since 2021 of Haynes House of Hope, a non-profit comfort and care environment for the terminally ill.

“We are that alternative to a nursing home at the end of life. We’re not institutional. We’re a house,” she said.

“The main focus of care is addressing the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of each resident in a very peaceful environment,” says the website.

They provide 24-hour hands-on care with separate private living spaces for two residents and their families at a time.

“We have very good volunteers and staff. Families can come here and be family. We can worry about when meds are due, changing them, turning them,” said Ms. Underwood.

“We provide what we call Activities of Daily Living: bathing, showering, we make the meals, we help people if they are unable to feed themselves anymore, incontinence care.

“And we sit with them. Talk with them. If they’re not able to talk to us, we still sit and hold their hand and talk to them because sometimes people really don’t want to be alone when it comes time to pass. We are that comfort when there is no family available.

“It’s a hard time for everybody, so you really need to have compassion and love for the job. You’re here for the end of their journey and you have a part in making it the best it can be.”

Seeking volunteers & donations

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Underwood said volunteers made up 95% of Haynes House’s staff. Now roughly 5% of the staff are volunteers.

“We have very good staff and very good volunteers, but we need more,” she said.

“We are financed by donations, fundraisers and grants I apply for. So, the more volunteers we have, the less money we’re paying out for staffing. That helps us continue to do the work that we do for longer.”

Their annual rummage sale is this weekend, Aug. 16-17, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Volunteers serve in many ways. “We need weeding. We have a volunteer who comes and mows the lawn; we need that done. We need weed whacking done.

“Inside the house we always need cleaning. I had a volunteer who did the maintenance. We have a fundraiser we do with slates where families can have slates engraved with their loved ones or anything they want on it, and they go into our floor. So, we have to have those installed.”

Cooking, laundry, office work, scheduling, volunteer recruiting and resident/family care are also needed.

“Any volunteer in any aspect, I can find a job for them to do,” says Ms. Underwood.

No volunteer is turned away due to age or lack of medical experience. Children as young as 8 have helped with basket and quilt raffles and bake sale fund-raisers.

Those who want to help but cannot volunteer their time may drop off necessary non-perishable food, personal care, household items and office supplies at the House.

Haynes House of Hope is located at 7187 State Route 149, next to the South Granville Congregational Church.

See thehayneshouseofhope.org website for a volunteer application and a registry of donatable items.

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