Originally published on CBC.
Helen Chan has a calling. A staff chaplain in Spiritual and Religious Care at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Chan’s mission is to help patients and their families through their healthcare journeys—often during times of deep struggle and pain—in any way she can. Depending on the patient’s needs, her help sometimes comes in the form of prayer, sometimes through just listening in silence and at other times through comforting patients at the bedside.
And since 2021, Chan has had an additional tool available to help her fulfill that calling: gift cards provided to staff by the QEII Patient Essentials Fund, which can be given to patients to help them buy gas, groceries and personal care items and vouchers for hospital parking. The fund, which was started by the QEII Foundation in 2021, is fully funded through donor support.
“I was inspired to apply for the fund by a patient I worked with in the last six months of her life,” says Chan. The patient, in her late forties, was a single parent to four children and had cancer. Gradually the pair built a trusting relationship. Chan began to seek some way to help the family financially.
“I really wanted to see the girls come to visit their mom. I really wanted to do a little something because this is the humane way to respond,” she says. “And then suddenly I found this fund.”
Sadly, the woman died before Chan could provide a gift card. “But because of her,” says Chan, “I've been helping many other patients.” Chan has applied for and received enough funding to make a difference in the lives of numerous patients. They have included a single father whose illness meant he had to rely on others for help with driving. “The gas gift card helped give him some dignity,” she says. “It’s just a little thing but it’s a very humane way to express love and compassion.” She also gave a card to an unhoused man who wasn’t sure where he’d sleep after his discharge. “I gave him the gift card and he teared up because I treated him like a real human. It was the first time he really had a gift,” she says. To date, Chan has helped more than two dozen patients through the QEII Patient Essentials Fund.
Danielle Worth is a registered nurse in the hematology department at the QEII; she has also had the opportunity to provide gift cards to her patients through the fund—and she, too, has seen the benefits. “As a healthcare professional you see people during the most stressful and vulnerable times in their life,” she says.
“Being able to ease their minds even a little bit helps us do what we do. When you give them these cards, they smile, and you feel like you’ve taken a small worry off their plate.”
Keith Moore of Amherst, N.S. knows first-hand how the fund can help in very concrete ways. In fall 2021, Moore was receiving care at the QEII Health Sciences Centre. After travelling from Amherst, he stayed with his sister in Halifax who drove him daily to the QEII Cancer Centre for treatment. On his final day of treatment, a member of Moore’s care team gave him a gas gift card to help with his travel expenses. “The gesture warmed my heart,” says Moore. ‘The big thing, to me, was that someone thought of doing something so kind. The good people who helped me at the QEII and the kindness of the gift card just filled me with hope. It was a nice feeling.”
Every single donation to the QEII Patient Essentials Fund goes directly toward providing a tangible benefit for patients. A donation of $50 today supports two deserving patients, while $250 today supports 10 deserving patients. A gift of any amount makes a difference.
That nice feeling that Moore experienced goes both ways—something Chan has seen first-hand. Her message to donors is simple: “It’s so meaningful,” she says. “It's empowering; it’s a way to show patients and their families respect.”
To have an immediate impact on QEII patients during their healthcare journey, please give the gift of essentials: QE2Foundation.ca/Essentials
