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In this audio clip, Priscilla Schwartz discusses her work with Compassionate Care
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jhp000635-002
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I agree.In this audio clip, Priscilla Schwartz discusses her work with Compassionate Care
I read about a hospice in England where when people were dying they could opt to not have that and to have some quality of life, and I got very interested. That's when I started volunteering at Nathan Adelson because it happens to be the only nonprofit hospice in town. I very much believe your care should not depend on your pocketbook, so I became involved. After Walter died, when I wanted to do something in his memory, the first thing I wanted to do, which would have been involved with the Federation, did not work out. Where our building is on east side, the offices were in a trailer. We decided to get involved in more programs. So I gave them a huge donation. I don't know if you know the building, the Walter Schwartz. You're talking about for Nathan Adelson. The building is called the... Walter Schwartz Center for Compassionate Care. I didn't put my name on it because I was also an active volunteer next door and I didn't want people to associate me. Now, if you walk inside, there is a picture of the two of us. I did that in Walter's memory. They have a lot of good programs in there as well as the administrative offices. Was he in hospice care there himself? No, he didn't make it. In the first place, our care was still out of Kaiser in California. When he had his stroke, we were here. He arrested and he was at UMC because they had a contract with Kaiser. Eventually he was airlifted back to California. They picked him up and then I got in the car and drove there because I knew I was facing a funeral. Where the damage was he was never going to get off a ventilator. He was alert and he knew what was going on, and he didn't want to live like that. This article I read said that you had donated "more than two hundred and sixty hours, time volunteering at Nathan Adelson in 2009 alone." Yes, I still volunteer there. To me it's very important because having lived through a time before we had it, it's the best thing you can do for a loved one. It's hard for families to go through this, but it's the best you can do for them. It's very important. I believe that too. Now, the Center for Compassionate Care, what happens there? They run other programs, counseling programs, counseling for children. They run a camp every year for children who've had losses, and they just had it about a week and a half ago. They take them away for the weekend and go through things with them because it's hard on kids if they've lost someone. By the way, hospice is not all adults. We have had children on the program, and babies. It's quite a program and I've been very involved with that.