When Vena Edwards attended Housecall Providers’ annual butterfly release memorial, she came as a guest of a dear friend whose husband had passed the previous year. The two of them shared a special bond, as Vena was also grieving the recent loss of her husband.

But what she experienced that day changed the course of her life. “I saw this monarch take flight and I thought that was him,” she recalls. “At that moment, I just said, I want to volunteer for this company."

For Vena, that butterfly was more than a symbol; it was a turning point. She had already known about Housecall Providers from her years as a nurse, witnessing firsthand how deeply needed the service was. But now, as a grieving spouse, she felt the personal impact of compassionate care. Volunteering became her way of giving back.

Today, Vena serves as a quality call volunteer, checking in with patients’ families and caregivers, listening with empathy and offering a steady presence. “I’m just a listening ear,” she says. “But that listening means everything. Most of them say they’ve never experienced this kind of care.”

Volunteering for hospice, she explains, gives her a sense of purpose, a way to align her own values with the kind of world she wants to live in. It also gives her clarity: “Knowing how it feels, helping others, helping Housecall [Providers] Hospice, it affects how I want to live my own life.”

She speaks candidly about what she’s learned from families navigating hospice. “You don’t want to waste time,” she says. “These folks were something else in their lives - teachers, artists, doctors, homemakers —- and they deserve to be seen as full people, not just bodies in beds.”

Every volunteer brings something unique to Housecall Providers, and Vena brings a rare combination of professional knowledge, personal experience and spiritual reflection. “Now, every time I see a white butterfly, I think of him,” she says of her husband. “There is no end, just a transition. I believe there are many happy souls out there, in the parks and places they loved.”

Through her work and her story, Vena reminds us that hospice isn’t about death — it’s about living fully, right up to the end. And volunteers like her make that possible.