Hiking for Hospice is coming up, and Teulon walkers are fighting to keep it in the town.
South West District Palliative Care (SWDPC) holds the Hiking for Hospice yearly, a hike, bike, walk, roll, run and scooter fundraiser that generates funds through pledges. This year’s walk is being held in Teulon on May 4 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., ending with refreshments and snacks. The walk in Stonewall will be on May 5. Registration is from 9-11 a.m. and a pancake breakfast, hosted by the Stonewall & District Lions at Lions Manor from 9 a.m. to noon. Participants are to enter from Entrance 1, 622 Centre Ave. with parking on Centre Ave.
Hiking for Hospice takes place in both Stonewall and Teulon annually, but with lower participation in Teulon, the event is at risk of only being held in Stonewall. SWDPC board member Sherry Wood Weaver has walked in Teulon for several years now, and this year, she is walking to generate awareness for Nav-CARE. Nav-Care is a volunteer program that supports people with declining health and social isolation.
SWDPC was the first organization in Manitoba to bring Nav-CARE to the province. The free program offers companionship to those needing it — volunteers help locate local services and resources to help those manage their declining health, help get their person where they need to go, assist them in re-engaging hobbies and interests, talk with them through important decisions and future plans, help relive their feelings of loneliness, isolation, and anxiety, offer one-on-one relationships tailored to the person’s needs, and book appointments for them. Essentially, volunteers help people in Nav-CARE with whatever they may need.
One woman using Nav-CARE, Monica, has advanced cancer. Though she could manage day-to-day with regular healthcare services, her medications made it difficult for her to think straight, so a Nav-CARE volunteer was there to help her.
Another Nav-CARE user, Clara, lives with chronic, debilitating pain, and because she didn’t qualify for regular healthcare services in her rural community, she joined the Nav-CARE program. Her navigator helped her through problems when she “ran out of steam”, handled the phone for her, and took over things she wasn’t capable of doing anymore.
SWDPC started Nav-CARE in the area with grants, but they need funds now to keep it going. Those funds will pay the part-time Nav-CARE coordinator SWPCD has hired, allowing the program to continue. SWDPC needed someone to dedicate their time to Nav-CARE, so they hired the coordinator.
“We’re all living with declining health,” said Wood Weaver. “Nav-CARE is basically about companionship and support.”
Nav-CARE is still new to the area, starting entirely in the fall of 2023, and Wood Weaver said they’re looking for more volunteers to get involved with it. SWDPC is currently reaching out to local assisted living facilities, seniors’ groups, and other organizations that may have people needing Nav-CARE, but they’re going to need more volunteers as they get more clients. To volunteer with SWDPC Nav-CARE, contact the organization at s.w.d.p.c@hotmail.com.
“Nav-CARE offers the types of things regular healthcare doesn’t,” said Wood Weaver. “It’s a sort of buddy system. Whether it’s having a cup of tea or going for a walk, doing their hobbies with them, or finding them resources.”
For those unable to participate in Hiking for Hospice on May 4 or 5, interested participants can register online from May 1 to May 11 and complete the walk on their own time. Funds raised at the event will also go towards SWDPC’s other initiatives, like Camp Stepping Stone and purchasing hospital equipment for the palliative care ward. SWDPC has three other main fundraisers throughout the year:
– the charity golf tournament in June
– the gala in November
– the memory trees at Christmas in the libraries
To register contact s.w.d.p.c.@hotmail.com.
