With Providence support, Seward Area Hospice helps one family say goodbye at home
As a nurse with 24 years of experience, Kim Bird of Seward, Alaska, knows the signs and symptoms of a patient nearing the end of their life. But as a daughter who cared for her dad as he died of cancer, all of Kim’s training was irrelevant as she focused on keeping him comfortable.
Seward Area Hospice was there for Kim and her family throughout their journey. Tonya Foote, program director, was with Kim and visited her children regularly.
“She was just so good with them,” Kim said. “She had given the kids these battery-powered candles and told them to turn them on and think of their papa when they wrote comforting notes. She definitely goes above and beyond.”
Seward Area Hospice began in 2016, with the mission to provide compassionate end-of-life care to enable comfort, dignity and choice for the person and the family. At first, it was a fledgling operation with just a few volunteers.
In 2024, SAH served 12 clients and families through grief-support visits and held vigils during six deaths.
“This hospice has allowed clients and families to stay in our community and in their homes, if possible, and for as long as possible,” Tonya said. “We focus a lot on grief and support, because this affects the whole family.”
In 2024, Providence Alaska supported Seward Area Hospice with a $40,000 contribution. Those funds cover payroll expenses for the program’s two part-time employees. The rest of the hospice organization is volunteer driven with caregivers in the community stepping up to comfort their neighbors.
In the Birds’ case, Tonya’s help was crucial because Kim’s father died only 74 days after he was diagnosed. Kim rarely left the house and relied on support from Tonya and her husband, who also volunteers, to guide the family through those days.
Thanks to the help of Seward Area Hospice, Kim was able to make her father’s last days more comfortable. Her grief comes with healing, right in her hometown of Seward, where her father always wanted to be.
