Hospice teens cheer a patient in the hospital

The HYPE teen volunteers, who are primarily low-income and African American, comfort not only sick and dying people, but they also help people in their neighborhood who need assistance.

India is part of a group of teen singers who sing Christmas carols or gospel tunes in the hallways of nursing homes, hospitals, or people’s homes. She also has participated in “Lifetime Legacies,” in which teen-agers interview and videotape ill patients about their lives and then give the video to relatives. Teen “cheer teams” make arts and crafts gifts for patients. They deliver vases of flowers donated by florists. The HYPE teens also tend their neighbors who need help but aren’t dying. They rake yards, take out the garbage, pick up people’s mail, and volunteer at the community center.

Many people – not just teens – have misconceptions about what hospice is. “Most people think hospice is just about end of life,” says Dori Blanc, volunteer partnership coordinator. “But we offer so much more than that. We offer support to many people in the community. We believe in living life to the fullest.”

Says Clara Legions, the HYPE program coordinator: “Hospice is about life, not death. It’s about how you live your life every day – to fully live your life. It’s really a philosophy about having a quality of life everyday.”

Legions has seen that philosophy dramatically change the attitudes of young teens in the inner-city Midtown neighborhood of St. Petersburg. “Some of our kids come in at first with their heads down, but they develop and grow and stand tall,” she says.

The idea for HYPE originated in 2004 with a group of African-American ministers in St. Petersburg who were looking ways to involve at-risk teens in their community. But the program also serves another need: Research shows that even though African Americans want support in caring for their loved ones at home, they don’t use hospice services much. One study recommends broad outreach programs as a way to build awareness of hospice services in African American communities. Faith in Action, St. Petersburg, a coalition of South St. Petersburg faith and service organizations, saw the teen program as a way to build community outreach.

Teens go through 22 hours of training to care for patients. About 150 teens are part of HYPE, a number expected to grow. After the first year of funding, the Eckerd Family Foundation found high measures of success that exceeded expectations:

• 90 percent of teens trained participate in 3.1 activities a month
• Half of youth have leadership roles; adults rate 77 percent of youth leaders as good
• 92 percent of teens had an increased appreciation of older hospice patients
• 38 to 75 percent of teens increased their understanding of diverse cultures and faiths
• 75 percent had a better understanding of life stages and the dying process
• 100 percent had a greater sense of belonging and a more positive outlook on life
• 100 percent were happy with the HYPE volunteer experience

Boca Ciega High School senior Sasha Oliver is one of those teens. She loves celebrating hospice patients’ birthdays with cake and cards. “Their faces light up every time,” she says. Like India, she is part of the singing group and also enjoys making scrapbooks about patients’ lives for relatives. She too has learned much about herself and how to be a more patient, caring person.

“I’m more accepting of death,” says Sasha who hopes to study psychology at the University of Central Florida. “I don’t like talking about death, but when I’m with a patient, I’m more willing to talk with them during their last stages. All of them tell me I should live my life to its fullest. They also say you only have one life to live – you have to live it.”

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