Loyda, Her Family Shared Their Hearts at Nursing Home
More than a decade ago, Loyda Sorenson, her late husband Richard and their six children would make the short trip each Sunday morning to the Parkview Skilled Care & Rehabilitation Center in Big Spring, Texas, to conduct church services for the residents. After a service would end, Loyda and her family would chat with many attention-starved residents, pray for them and then make the 12-minute drive to East Side Baptist Church for one of the worship services.
“That was the first of what I considered my extensive contact with the elderly, other than with family members,” recalled Loyda, a Care Professional of the Month for Home Instead® of Midland-Odessa, Texas. She has worked for the franchise for about a year.
“Our hearts were drawn to this Sunday morning ministry and the nursing-home residents,” Loyda said. “We got more out of it than perhaps the residents did. It meant a lot for us to see the residents’ smiling faces. The elderly loved seeing and interacting with our children. Our children grew up while volunteering at the nursing home in those Sunday services. They saw the challenging journey in someone’s life that most young people never see until they are much older. We did the volunteering for a long time.”
Loyda’s husband would deliver a wonderful, concise devotion as a layman who was a member of the East Side Baptist Church congregation, but who was not an ordained member of the clergy. Their children provided music by taking turns playing the piano and singing. “My husband loved the elderly, and so did I,” Loyda said. “We took the baton and continued to run with it after one of the grand ladies at our church gave it up.”
Though Loyda did so in sadness, she gladly took on a family caregiver role for two important men in her life. “I helped take care of my dad, who passed away,” Loyda said. “I also took care of my husband, who passed nearly 10 years ago. It felt comfortable for me to take care of them. My husband had Stage 4 kidney cancer. By the time it was diagnosed, it was too late to save him. He also suffered a stroke. He died Dec. 9, 2016, at age 48.”
Loyda added: “I miss the Sunday ministry sometimes, but I am getting to the point where it is too hard emotionally to be in a nursing home. It’s easier to take care of seniors one-on-one in their homes, which is what I do for Home Instead.”
That is where Loyda has found a home. She is an important part of the Care Pro team at the Permian Basin franchise, a member of a network comprised of Home Instead, Inc. and its parent company, Honor. With the world’s largest home-care network and the most advanced care platform, Honor and Home Instead are revolutionizing care for older adults, their families and Care Pros. Combined, the network has more than 100,000 Care Pros who are meeting the growing needs of millions of older adults and their families worldwide.
All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (432) 689-4663 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
