​Catherine Ho – Volunteer Palliative Care Program

​My name is Catherine Ho and I am a volunteer for SCHC Palliative Care Program and I have been doing this for over 20 years now.

I chose to volunteer in palliative care because of my mother. I was taking care of her when she passed away in 1997 and that was the year when I started volunteering in palliative care.
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I was regretting that I couldn’t be with her all of the time and thought that people who are at the end of their life should have someone to talk to. I also enjoying learning from the people that I volunteer with.
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What I really regret was that when she was in China, I didn’t talk to her the day before she went into the coma and I couldn’t be at her bed side.

I am a now a happy retiree, not working.  Before, I was the administrative assistant for long term care facilities for about 20 years.  I dance with the Hawaiian group from the Active Living Centre. We perform for some of the nursing homes and also for some seniors groups and a community picnic coming up.

When I was younger, I volunteered with children and youth. I was very pleased to assist the disabled kids. Now that I am older, I have changed to looking after palliative care patients. Sometimes they aren’t that old. I have clients who are only about 40. That’s the hardest one that I have done.

I had a happy ending with a client who had a brain tumor and is still alive as his cancer is still in remission. He has two sons now and is still on this earth. It is a miracle. I still go and visit them. They always call me sister.

There is a gentleman who is a truck driver who changed my perspective on life. I usually go to his home to make toast and muffins with peanut butter. He regrets that he had a hard life and told me about how dangerous it is on highways and how many heads he saw. He made me more careful about my health.

For support I go to the coordinator, Betty-Ann. She is always so welcoming and supportive. She is always good to us. She gives us (Volunteers) support and encouragement while helping us feel like we belong.

At home I have my best friend- my husband. He is also very supportive of my work and gives me hugs.  Plus, we have the other volunteers. Every time we have a meet and greet, we talk about feelings, not necessarily the clients.

I volunteer because I feel I can help people. I love helping them and I always learn something from them. I no longer fear death.  I think I know when it’s a good death so that helps me as far as my illness is concerned which helps me to be a better person.

I’ve gone through two life-threatening diseases and the return of my cancer. Since I am still living, I think when [death] comes it comes. I no longer worry about life or death.

For me, a good life is when you live your life without regrets while always trying to be a very kind and happy person all the time. I try to be content with whatever I have and be grateful.  If I was to give advice to another volunteer it would be just be yourself and be compassionate.

​With the new school year beginning in a couple days, The Willow Park School Clinic, brought about by the Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities in collaboration with the Toronto Foundation of Student Success (TFSS), continues to make a positive impact on the community, offering great health care and medical support to students at The Willow Park Junior Public School and surrounding neighborhoods.
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Our experts, Family Physician Dr. Ullanda Neil and Nurse Practitioner, Leena Bassandra, understand that a number of factors can impede the performance of children academically. With this in mind, they assess the needs of their patients and ensure they can maximize their potential in school.

Last year’s Quest Through Scarborough fundraising event was pretty awesome. With all the support from the SCHC community, we were able to raise $17,000 for Summer camps, Hospice/Palliative Care program and Senior services.
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It was so good that we had to bring it back in 2019. All participants had a great time ‘questing’ through Scarborough and participating in the organized activities. It was indeed a day to remember! If you don’t believe us, take it from three of last year’s participants who say they had a great time.

​Let us start by saying, the tragedy of death by overdose is preventable.

According to Statistics Canada, death by drug overdose has gone up across all age groups in the last 20 years, but the biggest spike was after 2015. In the last two years, Canada lost almost 6,000 to overdose alone. In fact, 94% of all accidental deaths are caused by drug overdose.
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Needless to say, this is cause for concern.