LEWISTON – In response to increased needs, Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice is offering three opportunities this fall for compassionate people to be trained as hospice and bereavement volunteers. Classes will be held in Franklin, Androscoggin and Oxford counties.

Hospice volunteers help support terminally ill patients and their families at home, in long-term care facilities and at the Hospice House in Auburn. Bereavement volunteers provide special support to family members or caregivers in the year following the death of a hospice patient.

In Farmington, a 27-hour hospice training course will be held Monday and Wednesday afternoons from Sept. 18 to Oct. 18.

In Lewiston, a 27-hour hospice course will be held Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from Sept. 19 to Oct. 17.

In Oxford, a training course for bereavement volunteers will begin Thursday evening, Sept. 28. Meeting two times each week, the course will provide 15 hours of basic training to bereavement volunteers so they can provide one-to-one support. An additional 12 hours will follow for those interested in co-facilitating grief support groups.

Volunteers are valued members of the Hospice Team and are matched with patients in or near their communities. We ask for a time commitment of 2-4 hours each week.

The agency also needs volunteers to be greeters at the Hospice House for three to four hour shifts. It provides four hours of training.

For more information, contact volunteer services at 777-7740 or 1-800-482-7412.