SOLOME ALLEN

Solome Allen is one of the most devoted, conscientious volunteers at a local hospice where end-of-life care is provided to patients who have a life-limiting disease. Medicare requires that hospice match five percent of paid staff patient care hours with volunteer hours, so volunteer staff is vital to meet Medicare’s requirements for participation.

Solome has volunteered with Solari Hospice care since August 2003. In those 18 months, Solome has given more than 465 hours of her time caring for our patients and their family members. Solome is an Airman 1st Class with the U.S. Air Force and is currently assigned to Nellis AFB as a helicopter mechanic Crew Chief. She holds a job that is full-time with an erratic schedule where she is basically on call 24 hours 7days a week, and when she receives calls for help from hospice staff she drops everything and goes to the aid of a patient or patient’s family.

When Solome is assigned to see a patient on a regular schedule, she is always there when she says she will be and always stays as long as she is needed, even if it means trading shifts with a co-worker or calling in to her commander to ask permission to stay. She socializes with patients who are no longer able to leave their homes, she listens to their life stories again and again. She learns to play their favorite games, share their dreams and their anger – and she consoles their families when crisis strikes. She transports patient’s she’s never met to doctor’s appointments and waits to bring them home. She will do anything and everything she can to make sure their lives are made easier during this extraordinarily stressful time.

Solome has a kind, gentle personality and every patient she is assigned to is passionate in their praise about how much they love her and how much she has become a part of their family. Solome is still in contact with several families – even after her patient has passed.

Her capacity to care, to soothe, to listen and to help has been tested many times in the course of her time with Solar Hospice Care. Yet Solome is always ready to lend a hand and she truly loves the relationships she develops with her patient and families.