About Us
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to provide free companionship, respite care, grief support, and end-of-life education to Sitkans facing loneliness, loss, and end of life.
WHO WE ARE
Brave Heart Volunteers is a nonprofit offering free social, emotional, and educational support to our neighbors in Sitka, Alaska.
What we share is a desire to show up for each other, and that spirit of care strengthens our whole community.
Brave Heart Volunteers has provided free social, emotional, and educational support in Sitka since 2001, when two local nurses and a group of neighbors came together to fill gaps in hospice and palliative care. Health care providers, faith groups, community organizations, and countless caring individuals have grown that effort ever since.
For over two decades, we've sat at bedsides, supported the grieving, and kept company with those facing profound loneliness. We train volunteers in end-of-life comfort care and companionship, offer respite and education for caregivers, and provide community education on grief, loss, and death. Along the way, we've given dozens of volunteers a meaningful way to serve their neighbors.
In 2004, we received our Tlingit name, Yee gu.aa yax x'wan, meaning Be of Brave Heart. It reflects the courage it takes, for care receivers, volunteers, and community alike, to face health challenges and even death together.
OUR BOARD AND STAFF
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MICHELE FRIEDMAN
Board President
KIM HUNTER
Board Member
BRIDGET HITCHCOCK
Board Vice President
MARSHALL BARG
Board Member
NICOLE MILLER
Executive Director
GLORIA PIES
Board Treasurer
KELLY LAWLER
Board Member
HAILEY RINELLA
Program Director
VALERIE WADDELL
Board Secretary
RIAN VANDENBERG
Board Member
email us at office@braveheartvolunteers.org or
email Nicole directly at director@braveheartvolunteers.org
MEDIA
A Glimpse of Who We Are and How We Serve
Artchange, Inc., a non-profit organization, created several documentaries about life in Sitka, in a project called 14 Miles. Brave Heart Volunteers had the honor of being featured in Episode 26: Not Looking for Easy. This video provides a small glimpse of who we are and how we serve some of our wonderful care receivers.
