Volunteers are our most valuable resource – they are generous people from the community who support families at a difficult and lonely time. The Spring 2010 training, 28 hours - held over four evenings and two Saturdays, covers a wide range of topics including reflective listening, grief, participating in a peer support group, being a true helper, boundaries, confidentiality, stress management, ways to physically express emotions, special issues of suicide survivors, spirituality, rituals and goodbyes. There is no charge to take the training and no charge to attend the peer support groups.

PTH currently provides a monthly General Grief Support meeting for adults at the PTH office, 883 West Main Street, Dover-Foxcroft. This group meets the first Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. and is led by two trained facilitators. No pre-registration is necessary for this group, though we do appreciate speaking with you prior to your coming. Evergreen, the PTH Center for Grieving Children and Their Families meets weekly; call the PTH office to request an "Evergreen packet" for more information on this program. If you are interested in participating in the spring training series, an application and pre-training interview are required.

For additional information, contact PTH at 564-4346 or e-mail wecare@pinetreehospice.org or visit the PTH website www.pinetreehospice.org.

PTH received a grant from the Maine Charity Fund of the Maine Community Foundation to perform an Adult Bereavement Needs Assessment throughout the PTH service area. Last fall, over two hundred people (80% women, 20% men) from Piscataquis County and portions of Penobscot and Somerset Counties completed the survey online or on paper. Fifty three percent of survey respondents identified the need for caregiver support; PTH will seek grant funding to assist in meeting those needs.