Care Professional of the Month Demetrice W. described her approach to her position with Home Instead® of Naperville, Illinois: “My job gives me an opportunity to show love to others. That is my No. 1 word, ‘L-O-V-E,’ as in love one another. I have thanked God for giving me such a job. It is an opportunity to treat seniors well and help them do things they can no longer do.”
Demetrice, who joined Home Instead in March 2024, said, “After the bonding and relationships with my clients and their family members, among the other things I like about Home Instead is the amazing office team. I can say that all of them are so helpful and have wanted me to be successful at my job. When they ask how I am doing when I am in the office, they stop to talk.”
While praising her office staff, Demetrice added: “John Hoss, our field service manager, joins me when I go to a new client for the first time and helps with the introductions, and I appreciate that. John’s words of wisdom always have stuck with me: ‘Let them lead,’ referring to the clients. It is good to let the clients do things their way unless it is a matter of their personal safety. I give them exactly what they want. I want to let them feel in charge.”
Demetrice learned about Home Instead from two friends who had worked for the award-winning franchise owned by Kelly Hutchison. “Before Home Instead,” Demetrice recalled, “I had not worked for 14 years because of illness and family caregiving. This is my first job in my return to the workforce.”
Demetrice explained further: “Before I stopped working, I had spent 27 years employed at a hospital. I was the transport person for those who were going into surgeries or coming out of procedures and moving to the recovery room. Transporting the patients gave me the opportunity to talk to patients and provide words of comfort and reassurance. I would call back after surgeries to check to see how they were doing. Before the hospital employment, I had joined the workforce in a retail position.”
As a family caregiver, Demetrice had helped her father, who passed away Jan. 28, 2020, after a battle with cancer. “I was helping my father with care, including such things as giving him shots, personal care and transportation to medical appointments. He got really tired of chemotherapy, and the doctors took him off it for six months. I am still hurting from his passing five years ago.”
In January, Demetrice suffered the loss of a 74-year-old client for whom she had served for eight months while the client was in a care community. Demetrice said: “She was my buddy. Her death really affected me because I thought a lot of her. I got to know her sister-in-law well.”
Demetrice might be losing another client, who is planning to move from one care community to another one because of the availability of better specialized medical care. “She is such a good lady, and we have a good time together during the two times a week that I am with her. While I likely will lose her as a client because of the distance, we agreed to remain in touch. We said, ‘Let’s stay friends,’” Demetrice said. “I’ve had her for five months. I have enjoyed talking to her brother and dad. The clients and their families become like family to me. That’s why I want to keep doing what I am doing.”
At our award-winning Home Instead franchise, owned by Kelly Hutchison, all Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (630) 637-3360 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website at homeinstead.com/home-care/usa/il/naperville/402.
Our Home Instead franchise serves five Illinois counties (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will) and 29 Chicagoland towns (Aurora, Bartlett, Batavia, Bolingbrook, Bristol, Campton Hills, Elburn, Elgin, Geneva, Kaneville, Millbrook, Montgomery, Mooseheart, Naperville, North Aurora, Oswego, Plainfield, Plano, Sandwich, Somonauk, South Elgin, St. Charles, Sugar Grove, Warrenville, Wasco, Wayne, West Chicago, Winfield and Yorkville).
