 Helen McCarthy Saskatoon CAREGiver of the Year 2010
Home Instead is pleased to announce this year's recipient of our CAREGiver of the Year Award: Helen McCarthy
Helen embodies the highest values of our company; her indomitable spirit paired with empathetic care for her clients makes our Irish crackerjack an excellent choice for Canada's CAREGiver of the year, 2010.
Helen joined us in August of 2008 following retirement from an office job. With her spirited sense of humor, dedication and high standards of care she immediately excelled as a CAREGiver, exclaiming, “Why didn’t I retire sooner?” Helen is a leader in our organization who has provided over 2400 hours of caregiving for some 20 clients.
Daisy was the recipient of Helen’s full attention and care five days per week for almost two years. Helen provided 700 hours of dementia care to Daisy who had no family caregivers in the city. Eventually the care evolved into palliative care as Daisy was diagnosed with brain cancer. It was Helen's sensitivity to her client's slight dizzy symptoms that prompted immediate medical evaluation and the discovery of the brain tumor. Helen assisted with her care even when family arrived from out of town. As Daisy moved to various facilities in the city, the family told us, "Through it all... wherever we may end up, we want Helen to be there as she is so important to our Mom!" During the last months of Daisy’s life Helen embraced the palliative care challenges with grace and courage and since her client passed Helen has kept going, giving her refined caregiving skill to new and deserving seniors.
Helen's loyalty and stamina are both a credit to her own character and a benefit to our entire team of staff and clients. When something needs to be done we know we can depend on Helen to accept the challenge. Our administrative staff appreciates how easy it is to work with Helen; she keeps us in the loop with quick replies and client reports. She rarely misses a shift or a staff event and makes a special point to be sure her clients are served on holidays.
Helen’s weekly visits to the office usually result in our administrative staff gathering around to hear her latest stories; belly laughs and inspiration fuel us to continue our administrative work. We have seen Helen elicit laughter and joy from dementia clients who are often confused and frustrated. Similarly, Helen has been praised by several new caregivers who have been mentored by her.
We appreciate Helen for all she does and for going that extra mile for co-workers, her clients and their families. Those extra efforts include staying late with her client (living with dementia) to not leave her alone with an unorganized plumber, running the cat to and from the groomers, managing tax preparation and making sure that her client had everything she needed over each weekend when she was alone. Helen has been entrusted with a vast array of caregiving responsibility for her clients. A long distance family caregiver left Helen with a 10 page hand written letter with fifteen numbered caregiving points for her mother’s care. The conclusion of the letter read, “Thank you for everything you do for her, Helen. She has improved dramatically since you began a 5 days-a-week routine. And the condo looks terrific – so do the cupboards. You have wonderful organizational skills! You truly are a blessing, Helen, not just to my Mother, but to the entire family. We don’t worry nearly as much now that you are here during the week.”
We are thankful that Helen shares her talents and good humour so freely with clients, families and CAREGivers alike. Helen continues to be a blessing to us all.
  Sharon Miller Saskatoon CAREGiver℠ of the Year 2009
Home Instead Senior Care Saskatoon is proud to announce this year’s recipient of our CAREGiver℠ of the Year Award: Sharon Miller.
Sharon joined our team in September 2008 and has now served over 1200 hours CAREGiving for the elderly. Keen to jump into new situations as needs arise, Sharon has served 25 diverse clients during the past year. She capably shifts from providing home help service to cooking, running errands as well as providing personal care, dementia care and palliative care. She has spent nearly half of her hours this year thoughtfully caring for a client with dementia who has no remaining immediate family. Sharon goes above and beyond regular caregiving as she provides care she deems necessary to this person‘s wellbeing, always without being asked.
Sharon is no stranger to elder care as she has made long distance trips to assist her own aging parent on two occasions this past year. Her tender-hearted care reflects genuine concern for her client’s interests … she generously cares for them as if they were her own parent. Sharon routinely is taking home mending or repair projects and purchasing suitable clothing for her clients on her own time. Similarly, when Sharon’s cancer client had irregular scheduling due to treatment timing, she was quick to offer flexibility to accommodate the client’s needs while carefully communicating changes through the office.
Sparkle and energy describe this soccer mom who also championed her teen daughter’s soccer team to nationals this fall. That energy buzz led Sharon, during a visit to a hospitalized client to decide, one 32° summer day, to wheel her client four blocks (and back) to her client’s neighboring residence to celebrate a friend’s birthday. They had fun!
Other talents emerge when Sharon is on a creative or playful tangent. Typical visits to the office include entertaining anecdotes about her shifts. Most holidays inspire Sharon to offer her creative crafts for her client’s pleasure or our office staff’s enjoyment, see attached photos. This Halloween she dressed up for her shifts as Minnie Mouse -- Sharon walked into the office in full garb as this letter was being written!
Describing Sharon’s experience as a CAREGiver with Home Instead Senior Care in 2009 would not be complete without saying that when the economic downturn impacted so many families this year, including hers, she had to consider how best to contribute her talent to the ‘bottom line’. Sharon made the choice to make a difference caregiving, as a mother, as a daughter and as a professional Home Instead Senior Care CAREGiver. We are proud to have Sharon on our Saskatoon team.  Alice Arnold Saskatoon CAREGiver of the year 2008
Home Instead Senior Care Saskatoon is proud to announce this year’s recipient of our CAREGiver of the Year Award: Alice Arnold
Our Saskatoon, SK office opened March 17, 2008 and Alice, who shares our pioneering spirit, was hired within a few weeks. We were very fortunate to have a few early service requests and we set Alice to work. Coming to us after two years of retirement and a career as a Care Aide at a local senior's residence, we knew that Alice was skilled and competent to care for these precious new clients. And she did. The first client that Alice served called us early the following morning. They could not wait to call and tell us, "We have a perfect match!" and "Don't ever take Alice away from us!!" Alice has joyfully served that client now for over six months.
Alice represents the faith that our early hires have placed in us as owners, as well as in the Home Instead Network. She joined us knowing that she would wait before being matched with clients and she dropped by faithfully to remind us that, 'it'll come'. At her CAREGiver training graduation Alice spoke up to tell the group, 'I think this thing is going to really take off... we'll be really busy.' She was right and we appreciate her part in reminding us when we were starting out.
Because of Alice's wide availability, her deep skill set, her versatile personality and willingness to serve the elderly, her schedule soon filled up with ongoing clients - her core people. While serving her regular clients, we have also called on Alice numerous times to take additional short notice shifts and difficult to staff shifts - one shift starting at 5:00 am! Alice has always been there when service was needed. Naturally, she's never called in sick or missed a shift. In the past 8 months Alice has provided 490 hours of service to her clients.
While all of our CAREGivers are chosen on the basis of their compassion for the elderly, their resourcefulness and reliability, Alice is exemplary. She has spunk, a quick laugh, great story telling skills and the ability to connect well with people, as attested to by her reference letters. Alice is relaxed as she engages people thoughtfully and deliberately. Alice is our gem! | 