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Hospice society moves forward with training, marketing

Support provided by pipeline contractors, District of Houston
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(L-R) Sophie Perodeau from Coastal GasLink, Jana Seinen from the Houston Hospice Society, Lisa Mueller from the Houston Hospice Soceity, Sharelle Lucier from Coastal GasLink and Rose Christie from Spiecapag MSJV at the presentation of a $3,000 cheque to the hospice society. (Angelique Houlihan photo/Houston Today) Houston Hospice Society

The Houston Hospice Society will now be able to market and promote its services within Houston and within the region thanks to the financial support of key companies in this area involved in the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline construction project.

Spiecapag MSJV, the prime contractor on the pipeline’s Section 8E, and Civeo, its workforce accommodation provider, together are providing $6,000 to the society.

“It is important to Spiecapag MSJV and Civeo to provide meaningful support for local community-based programs and services and the people that work selflessly to implement them,” said Rose Christie from Spiecapag MSJV.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to the communities where we live and work every day, we are so pleased to be able to support the Houston Hospice Society.”

The cheque to the society is the latest in moves by it to increase its presence within the community.

Just recently it was provided with a second $6,000 grant, this one from the District of Houston to help finance a training session for its new board and new volunteers.

The money comes from the $100,000 the District set aside from a larger provincial grant in 2020 to assist groups either affected by the COVID-19 pandemic or who helps those who are affected.

“We want to bring in a professional bereavement trainer/facilitator to offer us 2-3 in-person training sessions on bereavement,” explained Houston Hospice Society chair Jana Seinen in a grant application sent to the District.

“By providing this bereavement training for our volunteers, it adds another level of service we can offer to the community, which would be beneficial for families dealing with the loss of a loved one.”

With the training in hand, the society would be able to offer a weekly drop-in bereavement group for community members who have lost a loved one so that they could receive guidance and support.

Seinen said the society could also offer bereavement training to the other front line workers such as the Houston health clinic, firefighters, police officers and ambulance paramedics.

The approval for the grant came in June as part of a package of approvals provided to other community groups. Council then decided to suspend the grant program.