EvenMORE For You

Volunteer Manager Michael Noyola-Izquierdo Shares his Professional Goals

New Year, New Milestones

Mike Noyola-Izquierdo is days away from his one-year anniversary at Crossroads in Cincinnati where’s he’s the Volunteer Manager. He was one of the team members Crossroads leaders identified to be asked the question, “What do you hope for professionally in the new year?”

Mike responded with his 2026 Professional Goals, which we share for your reading pleasure below. We wish Mike all the best as he strives to build a meaningful Volunteer program in Cincinnati!

Volunteer Manager’s 2026 Professional Goals

“Overall, my professional hope for the new year is to continue strengthening our volunteer program that is compassionate, dependable, and deeply connected to the needs of our patients, families and care teams.  

Specifically, first I want to expand our Care Connection program, which we started in 2025. Volunteers would make regular “check-in” visits with patients to see if they or their facility’s staff had any needs or concerns. It enhanced our timely responsiveness to any needs and concerns that arose between our case managers’ visits and gave us an added presence in their buildings. 

Second, I want to involve volunteers and patients who are interested in StoryCorps, the nonprofit that records, preserves and shares stories from Americans of all backgrounds. Along with our new LifeWriter program, StoryCorps will give Crossroads an additional means to enhance our patients’ lives by celebrating their lives and preserving their stories for their families and the broader community. 

One part of the program, the Great Thanksgiving Listen, in which perhaps a younger person of a family records their elder’s story, seems especially relevant for our hospice mission. I’ve heard some of the archived stories, and they are often unforgettable. 

Third, I want to set up, again for patients who are interested, a way to career mentor volunteers who are heading into the same field that they worked in. We did this at my last hospice, pairing one of the first female chemical engineers in the Cincinnati area with a young lady pursuing that same degree. Their conversations about the industry and how to make one’s mark in it were very impactful for both! 

I would also like to attend any training, both within Crossroads or offered outside, that would enhance my skills as a Volunteer Coordinator and help me learn best practices that other hospice Volunteer programs have had success with.” 

– Michael Noyola-Izquierdo, Volunteer Manager, Crossroads in Cincinnati

Brilliant Disguise

By Danny Gutknecht
The moment I hung up the phone, I said to myself, dangit Danny what were you thinking? You went on a ramble when you promised yourself you wouldn’t do that. And I know that I said too much when the person I was talking to threw out a little barb that directly contradicted what he'd said thirty minutes earlier.

The entire conversation bothered me all night long and part of the next day. I wanted to press the rewind button on the day, or at least pick up the record needle and start the song over, as if it would be different the next time. 

Then I asked myself the question, what if something in my subconscious, something in my soul, knew me better than I think I knew me?  

That’s when it came to me. What if one part of me was struggling with the motivations of my colleague? Something in me wanted to test the information. The other part of me really wanted to connect and collaborate.

I thought this for a bit, then said, "I must be crazy," and made myself a cup of tea. My wife was sitting by the fireplace with her cup of morning coffee, and asked, “Have you ever heard where you can go to sleep faster by trying to stay awake?” I don't know why, but something in that landed sideways. If trying to stay awake is what finally lets you sleep - what was all my effortful thinking actually doing?

I had to go back, pick up the record needle and replay the conversation. I realized that I wove subtle, short statements into my flowing conversation, that in retrospect, would obviously cause this person to poke back. The crazy thing is that this was completely unconscious. I had no clue I did this. But it was as revealing as finally reading the lyrics to a song I loved forever and realizing that I had half of them wrong. I couldn’t keep singing along. 

Some part of me was afraid to have the real conversation, the one “I” needed to have. Not the one he needed to hear. But the one where I needed to tell my close colleague what I needed from him for me to relinquish some of my control over the project. The other part really wanted to collaborate.  

But “The mask” is unconsciously trying to do something intelligent, it’s fusing both motivations instead of giving me the ability to understand them both for what they are and work with them. And when these threads are left unconscious, they have a deep cost. They get distorted in the most important moments.

My mask wasn’t protecting me from him. It was protecting me from the conversation “I” needed to have. Most importantly with myself. It was smart enough to engineer a reason not to have it in that moment. It was testing for trust. But, when the mask negotiates on your behalf, trust nor the drive for a great collaboration, never actually get built.

The most important lesson about examining unconscious models, is that until you make them conscious, they run the show.

Green-inspired St. Patrick’s Day Craft Challenge

Prizes for Crafting Photos!

How many crafts at long-term care facilities can Crossroads present in March?
Activities directors and long-term care facility leaders love it when partners bring programs to their residents. Our Crossroads Marketers, Chaplains and Volunteer Managers know this very well.

Because Crossroads and St. Patrick’s Day share the color green we’re putting them together in a Craft Challenge in honor of the greenest day of the year, St. Patrick’s Day, which falls on Tuesday, March 17 this year. 

The Challenge is: How many St. Patrick’s Day crafting events can we present at long-term care facilities in March?

Consider one of these St. Patrick’s Day crafts with inexpensive materials that scale well with a group:

• St. Patrick’s Day Wall Sign
• Pot of Gold
• Leprechaun Hat Craft

Let’s face it, we have the best color by far of any hospice. Our Crossroads green attracts attention and projects warmth. Any team member will tell you that being “green” is part of our Crossroads culture. 

While Ireland is the Emerald Green Isle, Crossroads is the Always-Green end-of-life care provider. 

This March let’s export our green magic to long-term care facilities while further building our relationships with referral partners!

Stay tuned for details about a photo contest for the chance for your site to win a pizza party. 

Note: Team members are invited to share their St. Patrick’s Day craft ideas. Please add them in the comment box below with your name and email.

Women and Heart Wellness

We Care About You! This Month and Every Month

By Emily Hammer
Many women are surprised to learn that heart disease is the most dangerous threat to their health even though women are just as likely as men to get heart disease.

With women making up the majority of our Crossroads team, heart health is very much top-of-mind at all times not just during February, the American Heart Association’s American Heart Month.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 60 million (44 percent) of women in the United States are living with some form of heart disease, making it the leading cause of death for women.

Women’s symptoms and conditions are often different than men’s. So it’s important to know the signs of heart disease specific to women:

• Shortness of breath, most commonly while at rest, or even while sleeping, which may come on suddenly and wake you up.
• Persistent coughing or wheezing, especially coughing that produces white or pink blood-tinged mucus.
• Swelling in the feet, ankles, legs or abdomen or quick weight gain.
• Tiredness and fatigue during everyday activities such as shopping, climbing stairs, carrying groceries or walking.
• Lack of appetite, nausea or a feeling of being full or sick to your stomach.
• Confusion, impaired thinking, memory loss and feelings of disorientation.
• Increased heart rate or heart palpitations, which feel like your heart is racing or throbbing.

Crossroads’ health benefits cover annual wellness checks and we encourage you to stay current with your appointments. If you have more than one of these symptoms, report them to your healthcare professional and request a cardiac evaluation. The risks of a heart attack are too great to ignore.

So, what can women do to improve their cardiac health? The most important thing is managing existing medical conditions that increase your risk of heart disease.

Included are high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and an unhealthy diet.

Finally, don’t discount the role of stress, sleep and mental well-being, which also influence heart health.

Women and Heart Disease Fast Facts

• Heart disease is the number one cause of death for women in the United States, accounting for one in five female deaths.
• Women have a poorer survival rather than men in years after their first heart attack.
• A women’s heart attack often occurs while she’s at rest.