Home Health Aide Will Share Insight During Hospice Breakfast

By Shannon Hicks

The 17th annual fundraising breakfast of the Newtown chapter of Regional Hospice will be held from 7:30 to 9 am on Tuesday, June 13, at the Fireside Inn. Both a regular and a light breakfast will be served.

The event is the local chapter’s main fundraiser of the year. Last year’s breakfast raised more than $17,000 for Hospice.

Janet Hovious and Marg Studley are co-chairing this year’s event.

“We want people to know that the breakfast is open to everyone in the community,” Mrs Hovious said. “There is always plenty of room for anyone who wants to attend. It’s quick, too — you’re in and out by 9.”

The breakfast ends promptly at 9, even with a raffle event held, promises Mrs Hovious.

“Forty-five minutes — it’s the fastest raffle ever, and we make a lot of money for the chapter,” she said.

“Table sponsors pay $75 for a table of eight meals. In lieu of paying for their meals, guests at each table leave ‘tips’ which are actually contributions to Hospice,” Mrs Hovious explained. “The sponsor whose table raises the most money for Hospice is awarded a plaque.

“We hope everyone will turn out for this event in support of Hospice,” she said.

Gerard Lamoureaux, a home health aide who works regularly in Newtown, will be this year’s guest speaker.

After working for nearly a quarter-century in his family’s dry cleaning business, two things occurred that changed Mr Lamoureaux’s life: He reached a significant birthday and 9/11 happened.

“I turned 40, and I was kind of bummed,” Mr Lamoureaux recently admitted. “Right around the same time, 9/11 happened, and it all really shook me up.”

With some strong urging from his significant other (“She eventually basically told me to shape up or…,” he said), Mr Lamoureaux began attending Western Connecticut State University at night. His first job was with a 26-year-old autistic man, and when he immediately saw that he was able to connect with that young man, Mr Lamoureaux was encouraged to continue his new educational route.

Additional studies at Naugatuck Valley Community College were followed by an internship at a nursing home in Waterbury. While the internship was not a positive experience in itself, he said, Mr Lamoureaux was nevertheless interested enough in the possibilities of putting his medical studies to use when he read a Want Ad for hospice aides.

Today Mr Lamoureaux is a certified nurse’s aide (CNA) who works as a home health aide for Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut. In this capacity Mr Lamoureaux visits homes or skilled nursing facilities to assist patients with their personal care needs. He reports to a patient’s registered nurse any changes he observes in skin condition, medication changes, even temperament changes. He regularly prepares meals or brings food into a home,

While his job technically is to take care of patients — getting cleaned, dressed, medicated, etc — Mr Lamoureaux has been known to go beyond what may be expected. He has helped people walk their dogs and has, in one case, even helped an elderly woman pull up rugs from her basement.

“Her husband was ill and their basement had flooded, so I helped her get the rugs out of there,” he said.

It is a difficult job, and one that requires a certain type of patience.

“I meet people, in most cases, during very tumultuous periods,” he said. “There are two different kinds of people, too. There are those who know what’s going on and are OK with my arrival, and there are those who don’t want to accept why I need to be there.”

Mr Lamoureaux will discuss what working as a home health aide entails during the breakfast event at The Fireside Inn on June 13.

Reservations for the breakfast can be made by calling Mrs Hovious at 270-1960 or Mrs Studley, 426-3651. Reservations are requested by June 1, and walk-ins are welcome.

“You don’t need to fill a full table to attend,” said Mrs Hovious. “Singles, couples, a small group — call to find out where spaces are available. We turn no one away.

“Hospice is such a universal need. We will find you a seat,” she promised. “Everyone is cordially invited and welcome. Come make some new friends.”