Learn how a retired hospice director turned a failing hospice home into a thriving charitable organization providing housing for homeless people at the end of life.
My guest Penny Davis is a former hospice nurse who went on to get degrees in business, leadership and wellness management. She served as the executive director of a hospice for a number of years and eventually retired, only to be called to her next “mission” – saving a hospice home that provided care for people dealing with homelessness. She shares with us why it’s important to combine business knowledge with a charitable heart in order to create a successful organization to provide end-of-life care. Penny is also the author of the book PJs, Pearls, and Fishing Poles: Life Lessons of Style and Substance. Learn more at her website:
This episode includes:
- How Penny brought creativity to her work as a hospice executive director
- Why it’s helpful for hospice directors to have both business knowledge and hospice clinical experience
- How Penny became involved with a failing hospice home for people who were experiencing homelessness
- Why community engagement is essential for the success of a charitable hospice organization
- The “pitfalls” that can undermine a charitable program and how to overcome them
- Advice for those who want to start a similar hospice home for people without housing
- Why it is important for other communities to recognize the end-of-life needs of their homeless population
- How telling stories can help educate the community about the needs of patients and engage their support
- How to utilize the stories in Penny’s book to inspire staff, volunteers, trainees and community members
Links mentioned in this episode:
- What Really Matters Podcast on Apple Podcasts
- Previous episode with Dr. Naheed Dosani
- Penny’s book
- Link to Penny’s article: When Do We Get to Cry?
- Penny’s email address: pennyindy@comcast.net
- Sign up for the 2021 online reading group A Year of Reading Dangerously at this link
- Support your local bookstore by buying my books on Bookshop and Indiebound: 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying and The Journey from Ego to Soul
- Subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher Radio
- Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here
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