Someone 2 Know: Chaplain Chaz Blackburn

You may be familiar with the word hospice - it is a way of caring for a terminally ill person who is facing their last stage of life. Providers of this care can be social workers, nurses and, in the case of our Someone 2 Know - a chaplain.

While talking about death is uncomfortable for most, Chaplain Chaz Blackburn tells us his experiences with the dying have inspired him to help even more people. We caught up with him while he was visiting a patient.

We arrive to the sound of three men laughing. Hospice chaplaincy can sometimes mean sharing a chuckle, a quiet moment, or a prayer. The work often involves faith, but it doesn't have to.

For Chaplain Chaz it must always include compassion. "I like to say it's like an emotional or spiritual paramedic. So, we're there to do crisis intervention, just to bring love and a ministry of presence, a supportive presence."

Presence when people are facing their final days.

Blackburn says he felt the calling when his Grandma Judy was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer. “Over the next month and a half watching Circle of Life take care of my family, the chaplain, the CNAs, the nurses, and watching and seeing how beautiful hospice can be.”

So, Blackburn studied, got certified and ordained. He gives credit to his dad, who was a chaplain when Chaz was a kid - and still is. “He inspired me as a hospice chaplain and we still serve together.”

On this day, together the father (Chaplain Jesse) and son visit Tony - one of Chaplain Chaz's regulars. Tony says he isn’t good at taking care of himself and was skeptical about hospice, at first: “I wouldn't let him near me for a couple of weeks,” Tony recalls.

Now Tony - along with his faithfully kitty Mauser - have grown close with Chaplain Chaz over time. They both agree, they feel like family. “I was real worried I would end up dying alone, with nothing, out on the street.”

Blackburn says that's a sad reality for many displaced persons in northern Nevada. One of his early experiences was volunteering at the Record Street shelter in Reno. It’s a sad memory. “One gentleman who died of sepsis because he had - could not get - extra colostomy bags.”

Chaplain Chaz points out that a person must have a residence to receive hospice care, and many of our veterans and unsheltered are dying on the street, in their cars or in a shelter, and The Circle of Life Community Hospice Foundation want to build a hospice house.

“This is going to be a really nice home setting that's gonna cost absolutely nothing to the patient.”

A place where those who do not have a home can die with dignity.

The fundraising efforts for this have already begun. All the while Blackburn is raising his daughter and devoting himself to chaplaincy work wherever it is needed. “It's just been a great honor to serve this community and be there for the people who need it the most.”

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If you or someone you know needs hospice care, we have resources listed below -

If you are in immediate need of help dial 9-8-8 for The Suicide and Crisis Hot Line

For ways to support the future hospice house - https://www.colhospice.com/

Hospice services in Reno (a partial list)

Circle of Life Community Hospice - https://www.colhospice.com/

1575 Delucchi Lane, Suite 214

Reno, NV 89502

775-827-2298

Kindred/Gentiva https://kindredhospice.com/locations/gentiva-hospice-reno/

5345 Reno Corporate Drive, Bldg 3

Reno, NV 89511