CAREGIVER OF THE MONTH

CAREGIVER OF THE MONTH – June 2015

From Dan’s desk:

I love writing about our great caregivers!  June’s Caregiver of the Month for our agency is Tracy Stoll!  InCAREGIVER OF THE MONTH - June 2015 July she will celebrate (and so will we) two years with our agency.  Tracy is one of those endearing people you meet that just exudes a caring nature.  She is a wife and a very busy mother.  Without going into detail, she has also battled some serious health issues during her tenure with us.  But has that gotten in her way?  Do the clients see / hear / notice any change in her smile and great attitude?  Absolutely not.  Rock solid, Tracy is all about careGIVING!  It is just who she is, and we love her.

We like to have something special to trigger this award, and here is what triggered this very deserving honor for Tracy.  She was the primary caregiver for a delightful couple all last summer.  The wife was recovering from a hospital stay, but she also was traveling down the stressful road of dementia.  Her energy level was low, and we were there to be sure she was eating properly, helping around the house, companionship and to give her husband some respite.  Not surprisingly, they fell in love with Tracy.

This couple winters in Florida, so when our case manager called this spring to find out when they were coming back to town and to see if they needed to resume their schedule, we were very happy to learn that the client’s energy level had returned and her dementia had not progressed to the degree that the husband needed our assistance.

Then the client asked us if we would have Tracy give her a call when she got back in town because she was looking forward to having lunch with Tracy “because, you know, she is just like family to us now!”

How can you beat that?  You cannot.  We coach our clients when we first engage to see how much their own family can participate in the hands on caregiving.  Family taking care of family is always optimal.  But when family resources run out, we are there to backfill the schedule with our folks.  And our goal is to always treat our clients as if they were our parents or grandparents, giving them the most compassionate and loving care we can.  So when they tell us our caregiver has “become like family”, well, that is NIRVANA for us, the most rewarding part of what we do!

THANK YOU TRACY FOR WHO YOU ARE AND FOR MAKING OUR CLIENTS SO HAPPY!

Dan Gauthier

If you or someone you know needs help with home care services in Grand Rapids, MI, contact Gauthier Family Home Care. We provide quality and affordable home care services in our community. Call us at (616) 258-2300 for more information.

Gauthier Family Home Care