Pilgrim Project

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What It Could Mean For Us [BACK]

The Pilgrim Project regards each Member as a Pilgrim. For each of them is moving towards the end of his or her life prompted by the inexorable circumstances of some serious illness.

The Pilgrim Project also regards each volunteer caregiver as another Pilgrim, but one who takes time out of their own pilgrimage to help another person to reach their goal with dignity and integrity.

Distinction of Pilgrims [BACK]

It is still the case that particular social roles require some marks of distinction. We all know and recognize those to be matters of title, badge and costume. Currently our culture downplays the more flamboyant signs and symbols, and the emblems of social roles are often subtle.

Those who serve with The Pilgrim Project both deserve and need to be recognized. The hospices, centers and hospitals all need to know that those who perform special services of care are identified with some established and registered body. Behind each caregiver there has to be some formal symbol of responsibility.

Originally The Pilgrim Project did provide its members with small badges. But it gradually became apparent that people felt self-conscious wearing them. So they were discontinued. Our volunteers operate very much as individuals.

In practice it has been sufficient for us to make the proper introductions on a one-to-one basis. However, these things change and again the request for an identifying emblematic pin has started to be made. So we are planning to reintroduce The Pilgrim Project badge but this time with a permanent identification number attached to it.

A Pilgrim's River [BACK]

There is a choice in the way the river is approached. A Pilgrim approaches it positively, striding forward ready to take on the experience of death with the knowledge that he has done what he could with the opportunities presented to him during life. One way or another he has made peace with his life.

As the volunteer caregivers of The Pilgrim Project know, the attitude with which one approaches anything makes a difference in the experience. The patient’s attitude towards his approaching the experience of death will affect his own experience as well as the experience of those around him when he dies.

The volunteer caregiver of The Pilgrim Project is specifically concerned with helping the patient to whom they are assigned to live the final days of their life as well as possible. Their goal is to promote peaceful and positive attitude towards dying and to encourage the patient to approach death without fear and full of confidence.

They accompany the patient while she or he traverses the last section of their road of life, that section which approaches the river’s edge. They help the person to adjust their attitude to death in as positive a manner as is possible for that individual. They try to allay fear.

They do this mostly by being present and responding to the request of the patient. Their role is to accompany, to respond, not to lead, not to push, not to force - but simply to be the comforting hand, the helpful arm, the listening ear, the watchful eye

A Pilgrim's Mountain [BACK]

The Pilgrim Project does not itself promote any particular religious or philosophical position. Its role is non-judgmental. Its position is neutral. It is not there to preach any one belief. We live in a pluralistic society and our services must availlable to everyone.

However, it must be taken into consideration that each Pilgrim has his or her own religious, philosophical and moral position. Both the Pilgrim Project, as an organization, and those who accept the Pilgrim into their homes have to respect that individuality.

The volunteers of The Pilgrim Project do not claim any special insight or wisdom regarding the afterlife. They are not expected to conform to any particular body of doctrines. If the Pilgrim Project does not impose its perspectives on other people, neither will it tolerate other people imposing their viewpoints on the Pilgrim Project.

Part of their preparation for their task introduces them to some of the basic philosophical and religious positions that various people hold. They will be glad to listen to a patient or help the patient search for answers within a particular religious, philosophical or moral perspective as the patient sees fit.

Pilgrim & His Castle [BACK]

None of us can fully prepare a person for death. It is a personal experience of the most profound kind. What we can do is be there to share what we know or what we think as individuals. We can try to help a person achieve an attitude of hope so that they can approach their final human experience as positively as possible.

The ravages of disease, the often depersonalizing and sometimes inhumane circumstances of medical care, the demands of social behavior or any of a million different issues may intrude upon a person’s final days. Therefor the volunteer may not be able to provide the comfort that was intended or expected.

The Pilgrim volunteer must also be ready to experience grief himself or herself because the intense relationships that this work sometimes promotes frequently binds the volunteer to the dying person in a powerful way even though the volunteer is not family.

The volunteer is essentially an outsider to the family no matter how close the patient and the volunteer might have become. The volunteer must find inner strength and seek support from colleagues in The Pilgrim Project in the face of the loss of the person who they have often come to love. The Pilgrim volunteers should not expect the family to recognize their loss or their grief; the family is busy with its own grief. That is the work of a volunteer of The Pilgrim Project.