The Hospice Volunteer Association (HVA) was created to organize hospice caregiving volunteers into a group with common goals and a united voice. No other organization in the U.S. or abroad solely represents and serves the needs of hospice volunteers and their managers.

Given that an estimated 500,000 people volunteer in the nation's 3,200 hospice organizations annually, providing more than ten million hours of service each year, the need for HVA is greater than ever. The response of the hospice community to the establishment of HVA has been nothing less than phenomenal. In 2007 our membership quadrupled, now approaching 500 members in less than two years.

It is the goal of the Hospice Volunteer Association (HVA) to improve all aspects of hospice volunteering from recruitment and education to volunteer management. In order to accomplish these goals, we encourage every hospice to become an HVA member. The benefits of being an HVA member are growing each day. Here are just a few examples:

• FREE subscription to Hospice Volunteer News – HV News is the best hospice volunteer publication in the country and it is free to all HVA members.
• FREE memberships for your volunteers – if you are a Volunteer Coordinator/Manager of a hospice and you join HVA (only $40 per year), all of your volunteers can then join for free.
• FREE access to volunteer referrals – HVA receives inquiries from individuals across the country who are interested in becoming a volunteer. HVA’s Volunteer Referral Network (VRN) will automatically refer new volunteers to your hospice if you are an HVA member.
• FREE access to the National Hospice Document Repository (NHDR) – this repository is the largest collection of hospice-related documents and news articles in the country. Your membership gives you full access to all of the capabilities of the NHDR.
• Significant discounts from the Caregiver’s Store - members will be able to receive discounts on HVA conferences as well as courses that will soon be available from the Hospice Volunteer Training Institute.

There are many other things that HVA is presently working on that will allow hospices to better serve their communities.

As a unified voice, hospice volunteers can participate in helping hospice organizations and associations to resolve national issues relating to end-of-life care. For example, the HEAL Project has established the National Council on Hospice Volunteer Education to assist hospices in the planning and development of successful volunteer training programs.

We encourage you to join HVA if you are not already a member. The more members, the more services HVA can provide that will benefit all hospices. If you are a volunteer, tell your volunteer coordinator about HVA.