Hospice of Anchorage is pleased to announce an exciting expansion of our Resource Center. All resources will be available to the Anchorage community at no cost. This expansion helps fulfill our mission: to help individuals and families prepare for and live well with serious life-limiting illness, dying and grief. We work toward this mission through running the Resource Center for our community, and through our Lifeways Program that provides free nursing, social work, and volunteer support to anyone with a life-limiting illness.
Equipment and other resources
The Resource Center is here to help you and your loved ones in your time of need and includes the following components: Loan Closet, Lending Library, Advanced Directives, and Dementia Care. Our Loan Closet is full of durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs, walkers, bedside commodes, canes, etc., as well as incontinence supplies. Our Lending Library has hundreds of books on subjects ranging from dementia to end of life to caregiving to living with chronic illness and more. The Advanced Directives section has a variety of different health care directive and power of attorney legal forms that you may need in planning for the aging process and end of life.
Help with dementia care, nutrition
Our Dementia Care Section offerings have expanded dramatically. Starting in April, free music players, robotic pets, and fidget blankets will be available to anyone experiencing dementia in the Anchorage area. To purchase these items generally costs anywhere from $50 to $150 in a store, but through a generous grant from the State of Alaska we are able to provide them without any cost to you. Every journey with dementia is different, and rather than continue to spend money on things that may or may not help, call us today and we can set you up with these items to see if they benefit you or a loved one.
Additionally, we are offering free nutrition consultations with our registered nurse for those experiencing life-limiting illness. We have a variety of books and samples to help those experiencing difficulty with their nutrition.
Donations are critical
For the second year in a row, our largest fundraiser, Heroes of Hospice Gala and Silent Auction, is canceled due to COVID-19. We can’t let that stop us. As a volunteer hospice provider, we exist only through corporate and individual donations, along with state and federal grants.
If you’re able to support the work we do, please make a donation at HospiceOfAnchorage.org.
Curbside pickup
If you have any questions about these new resources, or would like help determining what might be helpful in your specific situation, please give our office a call at 907-561-5322. We offer curbside pickup for any of our resources so that you can get them safely.
Bethany Burgess is the Hospice of Anchorage clinical director.
