Episode 33: Shannon McPhetres; How Volunteer Hospice Helps Families Through The Hardest Days

Send us Fan Mail Hospice can sound like a single frightening word, but what we’ve learned is that it’s really a promise: you don’t have to do the hardest part alone. I sit down with Shannon McPhetres, director and volunteer coordinator for Hospice of Haines, to talk honestly about death, grief, and the kind of neighbor-to-neighbor support that can change a family’s final months. Along the way, Shannon shares the experiences that shaped her, from growing up in Kenai through repeated community losses to discovering hospice work through college mentors and a path that kept calling her back.We break down what Hospice of Haines actually provides as a volunteer hospice program in rural Alaska: respite care for exhausted caregivers, trained volunteers who know how to listen, and practical resources like hospice beds delivered by a dedicated bed team. Shannon also explains why calling earlier matters. When families reach out at diagnosis instead of days before death, volunteers can build trust, routines, and comfort long before a crisis.We also talk about aging in place and advance care planning, the Bridge Program for neighbors who need help with errands and declining vision, and how ceremonies like Light the Night give grief a place to go. The conversation widens to lifelong friendships in Ukraine during wartime and a candid look at infertility grief and why community support changes everything. Subscribe, share this with someone who’s caregiving, and leave a review with one thing you want our town to talk about more.