'It's been my heart': North Bay hospice volunteer wins provincial achievement award

A long-time volunteer at the Nipissing Serenity Hospice has won a provincial achievement award for her voluntarism.

Norma Brousseau always stops by the hospice to lend a helping hand wherever she is needed.

Norma Brousseau posed for photos with friends, family and fellow volunteers when accepting her provincial honour. (Eric Taschner/CTV News Northern Ontario)Posing for a few photos with friends, family and fellow volunteers, Brousseau told CTV News she can't help but feel overwhelmed for being recognized for the work she does.

"It's been my heart. I've loved it and the people are just extraordinary," she said.

"The care our residents receive is beyond any words you can say."

Brousseau was chosen as the winner of the June Callwood Outstanding Achievement Award, a provincial recognition which honours "people and groups who have made outstanding contributions as volunteers in their communities."

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"Volunteers have to take up the slack and be there," said Brousseau.

She started helping the hospice fundraise in January, 2016 through the Hike For Hospice event, before construction of the building began.

Staff said you'll often find her tending to the garden or helping prepare lunch in the kitchen on Sundays.

"I just feel when I walk into this hospice, I'm at home," she said.

"I just feel needed and wanted."

Brousseau added that administration and nursing staff "can't do everything alone."

Brousseau previously served as the hospice's volunteer coordinator, recruiting new helpers – most of which have stayed on and continue to help around the hospice to this day.

"We like to call her a real firecracker. She comes in quick and she goes hard," said the hospice's executive director Gil Pharand.

"She's just a real asset to our organization and that energy is contagious. She brings in a lot of people."

The award is named after the late June Callwood, an author and social activist – who founded Casey House, Canada’s first HIV/AIDS hospice.

It was established in 1994 and over 850 volunteers have been inducted into the Circle of Outstanding Volunteer – up to 20 individuals and/or groups receive this award each year.

Norma Brousseau have joined the June Callwood Circle of Outstanding Volunteers in recognition of her extraordinary contributions to the Nipissing Serenity Hospice. (Eric Taschner/CTV News Northern Ontario)"It's the most satisfying and rewarding thing," Brousseau said with a smile.

"I absolutely love it."

The next thing on her volunteer checklist is to one day provide some kind of support care to residents, by just spending time with them.

For more information on Nipissing Serenity Hospice, the work they do or volunteer oppurtunities, follow their Facebook page.

Norma Brousseau accepted the June Callwood Outstanding Achievement Award for Voluntarism for her work with the Nipissing Serenity Hospice over the years. (Supplied/Facebook)