Part I: Acknowledgements
I. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Statewide Hospice Clergy Education Enhancement Project was authorized by an appropriation signed by Governor Jeb Bush in July, 2002 with a completion date of July 2003. It could not have been accomplished without the assistance and commitment of many dedicated people who believe in the singular role clergy can play in assisting the dying and their families. On behalf of the Directors of Hospice Foundation of America (HFA), I am grateful to the individuals and organizations identified here and I am pleased to be able to recognize their contributions.
The Florida Legislature is to be commended for funding the Clergy End-of-Life Education Project, which became the more utilitarian name of the program. In 1999, the legislatively created Panel for the Study of End-of-Life Care issued its final report that called for legislative encouragement for "the ongoing development of innovative end-of-life educational programs...." The legislature rose to the occasion with concrete action motivated by a commitment to assisting the dying. The project was administered through the Department of Elder Affairs. Terry White, Secretary of the Department of Elder Affairs and Linda Macdonald, Senior Management Analyst, have been supportive and encouraging throughout the process.
The Advisory Committee to the project provided valuable insight into the educational, professional and personal needs of the clergy in counseling families, and generously offered manpower and printed materials for inclusion in the curriculum. The hospice members of the committee were very generous in offering their bereavement expertise and staff to the project and the committee's educational specialists offered valuable assistance in curriculum design and practical experience in clergy education. We are greatly indebted to the committee for its generosity of wisdom, collective and individual.
The initial group of regional trainers is to be commended for working under the pressure of organizing their clergy communities without seeing a complete final product. This group consisted of the executive directors of the local health councils and trainers recruited by them. We are grateful for their confidence in the program's management and their dedication to the project. The commitment of these trainers was instrumental in our reaching over 600 congregational faith workers in only a few months. The attachments list the original trainers, but there were also many who filled in locally who share responsibility for the success of the project. We want to also thank the local hospices and Council of Community Coalitions of the Florida Partnerships for End-of-Life Care for helping to identify skilled trainers.
The design and implementation of a statewide project required a complex set of skills and knowledge. The staff of the Health Council of South Florida, under the leadership of Sonya Albury, Executive Director, was instrumental in designing the training program as well as recruiting and training regional health councils to bring the project to the local level. Beyond being a partner in the project for two years prior to the appropriation, Ms. Albury has been generous with her time in developing the project's goals and objectives. Her encouragement was a strong influence to go forward with a project of this magnitude. Her personal commitment to serving dying people and her energy in bringing the project to fruition has been critical to its success.
A number of individuals have contributed their skills to the project. Irma Emery, HFA consultant, met difficult deadlines and created the trainer's manual in a few short weeks. Kathy Brandt, Director, Rallying Points Resource Center at The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast, has been a consistent friend to HFA and supported this project.
Kenneth J. Doka, Ph.D., M.Div., Professor of Gerontology at the College of New Rochelle, and Bereavement Consultant to HFA served a triple role in the program: overseeing the educational content, facilitating the important first meeting of the Advisory Committee and as a featured presenter in several counties. In 1995 Dr. Doka envisioned HFA's first effort in clergy education, the audiotape series Clergy-to-Clergy. He has urged us to do more in this area, and the Clergy End-of-Life Education Project is a direct result of his strong leadership.
Finally, we want to acknowledge the most important element of the clergy education project: those clergy members who have taken time to attend the regional workshops. Clergy men and women are busy people who work under considerable stress. Their demonstrated commitment to improve their skills by attending this program is testimony to their concern for the dying and their families in their communities.
David Abrams, President
Hospice Foundation of America
