Cowichan Hospice

10/15/2026

We're looking for our next Executive Director!

Lead with heart. Build community. Shape the future of hospice care in the Cowichan Valley.

For more than 40 years, Cowichan Hospice has provided compassionate support to individuals and families facing serious illness, grief, and end-of-life transitions. We're seeking an exceptional leader to guide our organization into its next chapter.

As Executive Director, you'll work alongside a dedicated team of staff, volunteers, donors, and community partners to ensure our services continue to make a meaningful impact throughout the region.

📍 Duncan, BC
💼 Full-Time | Hybrid
💰 $90,000–$110,000 + Benefits

Learn more and apply: https://www.cowichanhospice.org/job-opportunities

Explore current job opportunities at Cowichan Hospice and join a compassionate team supporting end-of-life and grief care in the Cowichan region.

10/06/2026

Caregiving can often feel like an invisible journey, but you don't have to navigate it alone. 💙

Join us for Dementia Widow: A morning of story, reflection and conversation with author Fay Martin. Fay will be sharing insights from her raw, unflinching memoir on love, loss, and 15 years of dementia caregiving.

Whether you are currently a caregiver, supporting a loved one, or simply looking to connect through shared experiences, we welcome you to join this intimate morning of conversation.

📅 Date: Thursday, October 22, 2026

⏰ Time: 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

📍 Location: Cowichan Community Centre (Genoa Studio)

🎟️ Registration: FREE! Registration Required

🔗 Reserve your spot today: https://www.cowichanhospice.org/event-details/dementia-widow-a-morning-of-story-reflection-and-conversation-with-author-fay-martin

10/01/2026

Death is the one experience every human being shares.

And yet, across cultures, it is understood, prepared for, and honoured in many different ways.

Every community brings its own beliefs, traditions, and practices to the end of life. While no culture is the same—and every person's experience is unique—learning about different perspectives can help us approach these conversations with greater understanding, respect, and compassion.

At Cowichan Hospice, we believe every person deserves care that reflects who they are, their values, and what matters most to them.

What does the end of life look like in your culture or tradition?

We'd love to hear your perspective in the comments.

📞 250-701-4242 🌐 cowichanhospice.org

09/30/2026

September 30 | National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 🧡

Tomorrow, September 30, our office will be closed as we pause to reflect on the devastating legacy of residential schools and honour the Survivors, children who never returned home, their families, and Indigenous communities.

As an organization rooted in care, grief, and the experiences of people and families at some of life’s most vulnerable moments, we recognize that reflection also asks something of us: to listen, to learn, and to remain attentive to the ways colonial systems and histories continue to shape people’s experiences of care, community, and belonging.

We are taking time to reflect on our own responsibilities, continue learning, and consider how we can contribute to spaces of care that are respectful, culturally safer, and grounded in dignity.

We hold space for those who are grieving, remembering, learning, and carrying these histories in different ways.

Our office will be closed September 30. Services will resume October 1. 🧡

09/28/2026

We're honoured to join the Cowichan Community Action Team and the Cowichan Coalition to End Homelessness for a free screening of No Fixed Address – The White Cart Memorial, with a panel discussion to follow.

Our Grief Services Coordinator, Tina Schoen, will be on the panel.

Monday, October 26 | 🕕 6:00 PM
📍 VIU Cowichan Campus, Room 140
✨ Free. All are welcome, and snacks will be provided.

Please join us for a FREE public screening of No Fixed Address - White Cart Memorial, with panel discussion to follow.

October 26 @ 6pm, VIU Cowichan Campus,Room 140 - Lecture Hall
*all welcome *snacks provided

Donations are welcome and will support Cowichan Valley Basket Society’s Memorial Project

09/26/2026

Some of the most meaningful moments in hospice care happen through simple human connection.

Maureen McKay, our Coordinator of Volunteer Resources, helps make those connections possible.

Maureen's work is rooted in supporting people with comfort, dignity, and compassion while honouring each person's unique wishes and journey. She leads and supports our Hospice House volunteer team, working closely with Island Health staff to foster a collaborative environment that supports patients, families, volunteers, and care teams alike.

She also oversees the Society's broader volunteer program, helping volunteers feel connected, supported, and empowered to contribute in meaningful ways.

For Maureen, one of the greatest privileges of her role is working alongside dedicated volunteers who share a commitment to showing up for others with kindness and care.

We're grateful for the leadership, heart, and steady presence she brings to Cowichan Hospice every day. 💛

🌟 We're proud to introduce our team, one person at a time.

🌐 cowichanhospice.org/staff

Interested in becoming part of our volunteer community? We'd love to hear from you.

📞 250-701-4242
📧 [email protected]

09/20/2026

🌿 Pause With Us

Because sometimes understanding begins with reading.

This month we are sharing a book that has quietly changed the way many people including those who work in hospice care — think about death, and about living.

The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living by Frank Ostaseski

Frank Ostaseski is one of America’s most respected Buddhist teachers and a pioneer in end-of-life care. He co-founded the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco and has sat with thousands of people at the end of their lives.

What he discovered through all of that sitting, all of that witnessing is that death has something to teach us. Not as a threat or a shadow, but as a companion.

He writes: “We can harness the awareness of death to appreciate the fact that we are alive, to encourage self-exploration, to clarify our values, to find meaning, and to generate positive action.

It is the impermanence of life that gives us perspective. As we come in contact with life’s precarious nature, we also come to appreciate its preciousness.

Then we don’t want to waste a minute. We want to enter our lives fully and use them in a responsible way.

Death is a good companion on the road to living well and dying without regret.”

We think that is exactly right.

The Five Invitations is available at your local library, bookstore, or online.

Have you read a book, listened to a podcast, or watched a film that changed how you think about death or living? Share it in the comments your recommendation might find the right person at exactly the right moment.

09/16/2026

Nanaimo In-Person & Online Island-Wide • Supported by Island Health

09/16/2026

The Little Cat That Brings Comfort :

At first glance, it doesn't look like anything extraordinary. It's a small mechanical cat.

But inside Hospice House, it has brought comfort when words weren't enough. It was a gift from a resident's daughter to our volunteer team. When held, it moves gently and purrs softly.

Its gentle purr and soft movements have comforted residents who quietly stroke its fur, hold it close, or simply rest with it in their lap. For one resident, the gentle purring became a source of comfort during her final days—a quiet companion through one of life's most tender moments.

Sometimes, the smallest comforts become the ones we remember most.

At Cowichan Hospice, we believe compassionate care is found not only in clinical support, but also in the small moments that bring comfort, connection, and peace.

Hospice House was built by this community with generosity, compassion, and the belief that no one should face the end of life alone. Every act of kindness helps create a place where moments like these are possible.

📞 250-737-2662

📍 250 Cairnsmore Street, Duncan, BC