Archive for month: February, 2025

Your choice. Our privilege. For Homeland Hospice this is a promise to deliver the most compassionate care possible to all patients and their families. In his role as a licensed social worker (LSW) with Homeland Hospice, Andrew Humes lives these words every day as he helps patients during their end-of-life journey. Homeland Hospice is a hospice program that serves communities throughout Central Pennsylvania.

Andrew has been with Homeland for nearly three years. He joined the staff after earning his undergraduate and master’s degrees in social work at West Chester University. During his academic tenure he focused on gerontology because he enjoys connecting with seniors and learning their life stories. Following his course work, Andrew interned with a hospice organization in West Chester. He loved his hands-on experience and admired the hospice philosophy of care.

“I was excited to learn about the position with Homeland,” Andrew says. “I was confident I could do the job and make a difference.”

Andrew returned home to Mechanicsburg and immediately embraced his role at Homeland Hospice. Homeland Hospice helps patients live as fully and comfortably as possible by providing symptom and pain relief; care services and therapies; spiritual support and on-call support.

As a social worker, Andrew helps families with the most emotional parts of their journey and ensures they have access to non-medical resources. Patients and families often need a friend who will not judge them as they deal with difficult and painful emotions. Listening and affirming beliefs and feelings helps patients and families find comfort and peace amidst grief. This can look differently depending on the patient.

“I fondly remember a patient whose last wish was to finish a book he was writing,” Andrew recalls. “It was an honor to help make this happen.”

Andrew and his patients often form unique levels of trust and bonds during a short period of time. Andrew knows everyone is different, and he works diligently to find a common ground for conversation and connections.

“Sometimes, patients want to talk about everyday life, like sports,” Andrew adds. “Talking about a recent game can help a patient feel like life is normal, if only for a few minutes.”

Andrew often includes his personal hobbies and passions in his work. As an avid runner, Andrew helped organize the Homeland Hospice 5K and Memory Walk in September of 2024. He shared his enthusiasm for the sport and his love of Homeland during guest appearances on Good Day PA on abc27 and WINK 104.

Two years ago, Andrew and his family were on the receiving end of hospice services when his grandmother was in her final days of life. She received hospice services from an organization close to her home. Andrew saw his mother step into the role of primary caregiver and the toll of grief and worry she carried. This experience made Andrew acutely aware of the impact one can make through extra kindness, support and attention to details.

“I have a better understanding of the needs of families,” Andrew says. “I am a better social worker because of this experience.”

As a sports fan and marching band instructor, Andrew knows it takes everyone working together to be successful. This is what he loves most about Homeland. The team approach to care sets everyone up to meet the needs of families.

“I love connecting with patients and families,” Andrew adds. “This work makes a more complete person.”

For more information about services for patients and families, call Homeland Hospice at (717) 221-7890.

A health crisis brought Ed and Marlene Sickora to Homeland in the fall of 2024, but they knew immediately that they were in the right place. 

“We’ve met so many nice people,” Marlene said. “They’ll introduce themselves and talk to you. We didn’t know anybody when we came here.”  

“I still think they put something in the water that makes everybody so nice,” Ed added. “They’ll do anything for you.” 

Ed and Marlene were high school sweethearts who grew up in Coal Township near Shamokin. Ed was raised by a hard-working single mother who cleaned houses for a living. Marlene’s mother worked as a stay-at-home mother, and her dad was a proud Pennsylvania Railroad trackman, laying track and, when needed, restoring it after train wrecks. 

“That’s all my dad wanted to do,” said Marlene. “That’s all he talked about.” 

The couple met in Coal Township High School when he was a sophomore, and she was a freshman, introduced by friends of his. After Ed graduated from high school in 1953, he worked at an electronics store selling the then-new technology: television. He would drive to the nearby town of Sunbury to pick up the latest Westinghouse models. (Coincidentally, he learned at Homeland that his upstairs neighbor worked for Westinghouse in Sunbury around that time.) 

Marlene grew up with music, singing in the church choir, playing piano, and learning to play the pipe organ from the church organist. She and two cousins formed a vocal trio, traveling to churches and sometimes singing songs in the style of the Andrews Sisters. 

“I worked in a sewing factory,” she said. “That’s where girls went to work in those days.” 

They got married in 1956. Ed studied drafting at Williamsport Institute of Technology, getting his first job as a draftsman for Bendix Corp., a Department of Defense contractor in York. After seven years, he went to another defense contractor, HRB Systems (now Raytheon) in State College, where he would stay for 33 years before retiring. The couple built a home in nearby Boalsburg, raising a son and daughter and vacationing at Disney World in Florida whenever they could. 

“The first time we went to Disney, we paid $36 a night for four people,” Ed said.  

Living near Penn State, they took advantage of all that the campus had to offer, attending football games, wrestling matches, student musicals, and more. After their son entered school, Marlene worked for 14 years as the Penn State Conference Center receptionist. 

“I liked that job very much,” she said. “I got to meet everybody.” 

Ed rose to be a senior designer at work. After retiring in 1996, Ed and Marlene continued their Disney excursions until 2018.  

They also traveled throughout the United States, and in their cheery personal care suite at Homeland, a banner displays an array of pins and medallions — mementos from decades of adventures. There are pins from Disney World, the Grand Canyon, a Baltimore Orioles spring training game, the American Music Theatre in Lancaster, and excursions with Volksmarch, the international walking club. Volksmarch trips included walks in Ocean City, MD, Philadelphia for the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, West Point, NY, and a Stewartstown, PA, wine festival. 

“That’s how we travel now,” said Marlene. “We look at the pins.” 

Ed and Marlene have five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. When it was time to come to a retirement community, their daughter, who lives in nearby Linglestown, researched the options and liked Homeland the best, suggesting that her parents schedule a tour.  

“We didn’t even get halfway through, and I really liked the place,” Ed remembers. “I said, ‘We’ll take it.’ It was so clean, the people were so nice, and it looked good.” 

He was also amazed to find a Penn State fan base built into the Homeland community. People will wear Penn State jerseys to the dining room on game days. Sometimes, the school’s famous chant will ring out.  

“You’ll be going down the hall, and someone will yell, ‘We are . . .,’ and you’ve got to yell back, ‘Penn State!’” he said.  

Even though Ed and Marlene had to leave their Boalsburg home, where they lived for 61 years, they love being at Homeland.  

“We’re happy here,” Marlene said. “We’re not in our home, but we’re home.”