Care Professional of the Month

Heaven Zerai, Home Instead^® Care Professional of the Month.

“Heaven’s name represents her well. She has a very calming spirit about her. I have had a few clients say they just love her,” said Amanda Ross, the Care Pro Advocate for Home Instead^® of Collin County in Plano, Texas. Amanda announced Heaven’s honor on behalf of the award-winning franchise owned by Chase and Taylor Crenwelge.

So, Heaven’s answer to the obvious question she often hears: “My dad gave me the name ‘Heaven.’ I think he wants me to go straight to heaven when it’s my time,” she said with a smile. It’s obvious Heaven’s Home Instead clients don’t want her going anywhere, and the feeling is mutual.

“I chose to work with Home Instead because I enjoy helping people and providing care to seniors,” said Heaven, who has spent the past three years and two months with Home Instead. “What I like most about my job is helping clients with their daily needs and making their lives easier. It feels good to know I’m making a positive difference.”

“God gave me a second chance at life. I’ve used that chance to help seniors, which has been my passion since I graduated from high school,” said Home Instead^® Care Professional of the Month Brigitte Washington, who received a kidney transplant in 2017 at the Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

For 28 years before the transplant, Brigitte had worked at a nursing home in Dallas, where she had learned to do everything involved with senior care except for the administrative bookwork. Brigitte worked on the floor as a CNA, in the dietary and food service, in the laundry and in housekeeping. “Then I had to stop working because I became really sick,” Brigitte explained.

She added: “It was a long, arduous process. We looked for a kidney transplant match for a long time; there was no compatibility with family members. Then there was an international search for a kidney, a search that succeeded. God saw me through it, and now I feel good. During my health struggles, I missed working with the elderly. They have great stories.”

In July 2022, Brigitte joined a Home Instead franchise in Dallas as a Care Pro. That franchise closed when the owner retired, so Brigitte came aboard at Home Instead of Collin County in Plano, Texas, in August 2023. Todd Felker had owned the award-winning franchise for 11 years until March 1, 2025, when he retired and sold the franchise to Chase and Taylor Crenwelge.

In a Google^® Review, the wife of a Home Instead^® client delivered her glowing praise for Care Professional of the Month Charleon Kongnyuy and his award-winning franchise that serves Collin County from its office in Plano, Texas:

“Getting wonderful service from this company (Home Instead). We have Charleon coming to help around the house, and especially with my husband, who has dementia. Charleon is able to get him chatting, and Charleon also shares stories of his homeland. It has been a big relief for me, and I highly recommend them (Home Instead). Thank you (Home Instead) for all of your dedication to your clients! They appreciate you, and so do we! Thank you!”

That wasn’t the first time Charleon was touched by the significance of reviews that involved the Dallas-area Home Instead franchise owned by Chase and Taylor Crenwelge. During a job search earlier this year, Charleon found Home Instead, read reviews on Indeed.com and saw many positive comments from current and past Care Pros. “I had been looking online for a home-care company that truly supports its caregivers,” Charleon recalled. “I wanted an employer who respects its workers, offers steady shifts and communicates well.”

Charleon added: “The way people spoke about the company made me feel confident, and that encouraged me to apply for the Home Instead team. As a result, I interviewed, was offered a position and started working with Home Instead in May 2025.”

Before Home Instead, Charleon had worked for about two years as a caregiver in an assisted living facility. “I took care of residents with different conditions, such as dementia, and some with more challenging behavioral issues,” he said. “That experience helped me learn patience, understanding and how to stay calm in different situations.”

Jeanne was an Occupational Therapist for more than 24 years, and her highly successful career that included a generous daily mix of empathy and compassion was a perfect skill set when Jeanne transitioned to a Home Instead^® Care Professional position as a result of new family experiences and challenges.

“I worked as a full-time Occupational Therapist until my husband and I were incredibly blessed with our twin boys and beautiful daughter, all within a couple of years. We felt as if we had triplets because they were born in 2007 and 2008!” Jeanne recalled. “I was a busy stay-at-home mom during their preschool years and also worked part time as an Occupational Therapist.”

Her OT career and family caregiving responsibilities served Jeanne well when she began searching for a flexible employer and fulfilling work.  Jeanne explained: “I was caregiving for our little ones at home and caregiving for adults of all ages at rehabilitation centers, hospitals and skilled nursing facilities.”

Furthermore, Jeanne pointed out: “While working as an Occupational Therapist, I grew very fond of working with my geriatric patients because they reminded me of my parents. My OT background comes in handy when helping my Home Instead clients maintain their independence in their daily activities and routines.”

Home Instead^® Care Professional of the Month Amy Scott’s ears perk up when she hears her clients’ intriguing stories. Amy feels fortunate to tune into talking “history books,” especially when ex-military clients dust off their memorable moments. “I particularly like to listen to the stories when my veterans talk about their careers. My dad was in the Air Force for more than 20 years. Yes, I was a military brat,” Amy said with a smile. “In general, it is difficult to choose a favorite client story. They all have different needs and interesting life stories to share.”

To experience those warm, rewarding days with her Home Instead clients, it took a monumental shift in Amy’s work career. She entered professional senior care for the first time just over a year ago with the award-winning Home Instead franchise owned by Chase and Taylor Crenwelge, an office that serves Collin County, Texas, and is based in Plano.

“I spent 30 years in the transportation industry and was looking for something meaningful and more fulfilling while still working with people,” said Amy, who found Home Instead through her LinkedIn account and interviewed with several other companies before selecting Home Instead. 

Amy savors her Care Pro role, in which she lives Home Instead’s guiding principles by “Building Trust, Taking the Lead and Sharing Her Heart.” For Amy, touching lives impacts her soul, whether she is offering physical help such as light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders or personal care, or if she is extending emotional support in the form of companionship and empathy.

For as long as she can remember, Home Instead® Care Professional of the Month Janice Callahan has been drawn to seniors. Two memorable seniors who lived near Janice’s childhood home in Independence, Missouri, were retired U.S. President Harry S. Truman and his wife Bess.

“I have four brothers, and we would walk past President Truman’s house from time to time. Bess Truman waved to us once as we ran home. When I was 8 or 9, I encountered President Truman at the mall, and of course the Secret Service was there. When I went to say hi, a Secret Service agent stopped me, but the president waved him off and graciously spoke briefly to me. I think he had recognized me from the neighborhood. He was a very personable man,” Janice recalled.

That’s one of Janice’s eye-opening stories, but she is far more interested in listening to seniors’ stories than telling hers. “I have always wanted to know about them and their histories. That is true with my Home Instead clients, too. I still have their stories in my heart, even from my former clients in Austin, Texas, when I worked for Home Instead there,” said Janice, who joined Home Instead of Collin County in Plano, Texas, on April 27, 2023. She was selected as Collin County’s Care Pro of the Month in July 2025 at the award-winning franchise owned by Chase and Taylor Crenwelge.

Janice previously worked for the two Austin-area Home Instead franchises from March 11, 2011, to March 30, 2014. Then Janice’s mother, who had Alzheimer’s disease, came to live with Janice in Elgin, Texas, about 25 miles east of Austin. “When I worked for Home Instead in Austin, I worked mostly with Alzheimer’s clients. I would take the Alzheimer’s clients who were too hard for other Care Pros to handle. At night, I would pray to God about my client situation, and He would give me an answer for creating friendly diversions for the clients,” Janice said.

Growing up in a multi-generational family in Cambodia provided Sokkea “Sophia” Em with the opportunity to provide care for her grandparents at a young age, valuable experiences that Sophia has never forgotten. Those memorable learning episodes have served Sophia well as an award-winning Care Professional with Home Instead^® of Collin County in Plano, Texas.

“In my native country, we all have multi-generational homes in which the children help their parents take care of their grandparents and sometimes great-grandparents. We all lived together. I helped with the care of my grandparents. Then, later, I helped take care of my father, who battled cancer for three years before he passed away in 1997 at age 49. I was just 14 or 15 years old at the time,” Sophia recalled. “I have four brothers – no sisters – and was the second-oldest child. I helped my parents with my younger siblings.”

Sophia’s mother is 76 years old and still lives in Cambodia, but Sophia’s family caregiving hasn’t ended. “I have an 81-year-old uncle who lives in McKinney, which is a 15-mile drive from my home, and I help him when I can. For example, in addition to other forms of care, I drive him to physical therapy,” said Sophia, who moved to America in 2011.

Home Instead^® Care Professional of the Month Ella Sydnor will never forget a treasured moment with a memorable client. “Toward the end of her life,” Ella recalled, “I’d ask her if she recognized me. She always said, ‘You’re my baby.’ I loved that term of endearment. One day I brought her flowers and took a picture of her with them. I’ll have that photo forever. She had a sharp mind until the final couple of weeks, when she was on hospice.”

Ella added: “The client was awesome, and she was the oldest client I’ve helped. I had assisted her from the early part of 2022 until four or five days before her 101st birthday, when she passed away later that year. She shared so much wisdom. She was so positive. She had such a great attitude.”

Ella’s client was a high school teacher, and her husband was a college instructor. She loved teaching, was passionate about education and had compassion for others. “Originally from Louisiana, my client talked about watching the return of military members from the Vietnam War. As an educator, among the things she did was help the soldiers who had PTSD,” Ella explained.

Life’s travels took the client across the country. The client had lived in California before moving to Arizona, where she also had been assisted by Home Instead Care Pros. Referring to Collin County, Texas, where Ella worked for the award-winning Home Instead franchise in Plano, she said: The client had moved here to be closer to family members. We became part of her family.”

One of Home Instead® Care Professional of the Month Leona Dickens’ greatest senior-care experiences lasted 12 years, about 11½ years longer than a medical professional had predicted. Leona hadn’t been working for Home Instead at the time – she was embracing her fulfilling role as a family caregiver. “I was taking care of my darling mother,” Leona said.

“My mother has gone on to be with the Lord,” Leona said. “Following my mother’s original diagnosis, her doctor had sent her home into my care with a three-to-six-month window of life. With God’s help, a lot of tender, loving care and my spouse’s assistance, my mother’s window of life expanded to 12 years. My mother’s daily expressions of gratitude for her quality of life brought much joy and peace to our home.”

Perhaps it was no coincidence that Leona later joined Home Instead of Collin County, Texas, where the award-winning franchise operates from an office in Plano. Chase and Taylor Crenwelge are the franchise co-owners. Leona said: “I began my employment with Home Instead in December 2020. I had just moved from California to Texas after retiring from a very wonderful career of 23 years as an office manager of a physical therapy clinic. I have worked in the medical field, in different services, for 40-plus years.”

Leona added: “My life has been one of serving others as the need is presented to me. Home Instead has allowed me to continue in that vein of servanthood. They have given me new tools and professional senior-care techniques to stay current in our ever-changing field.”

The near-fatal car accident occurred decades before Karen Brown became a Home Instead® Care Professional. But she still remembers how her own caregiver impacted her life.

“At age 18, I was ejected from a car during a horrific accident, resulting in a traumatic brain injury and requiring 26 facial reconstruction surgeries,” Karen explained. “I don’t remember the caregiver’s name, but I remember she was so kind and gentle, with a quiet, sensitive presence. I wish I had been able to interact with her, and I think of her often. I feel her spirit as I go about my caregiving.”

Drawing on the strength of her unknown caregiver who helped in Karen’s life-changing comeback, she serves others as an award-winning Care Pro for owner Todd Felker’s Home Instead franchise that assists seniors in Collin County, Texas. Karen’s journey to Home Instead included an intense experience as a family caregiver, ironically the result of a car accident.

“For four years,” Karen recalled, “I cared for my husband throughout the aftermath of a broken neck suffered in a crash. He spent all four years at home before he passed away in 1996. He had four vertebra fusion surgeries, but ultimately died from the effects of a powerful painkiller that had been widely used in the 1990s. At the time, as I was taking care of my husband, I also was being a mom and working in accounting when possible.”

Mission. … Purpose. … Destiny. Gwendolyn Brown had been searching for the right job during her life’s journey, and she believes she’s found it with Home Instead^® of Collin County, Texas, an award-winning franchise owned by Todd Felker. Gwendolyn confirmed: “Basically working with Home Instead to be there for my clients is my calling.”

“My story behind going to work for Home Instead is centered on my dream of helping others. I’ve always wanted to help others and be a positive influence in the lives of others. Home Instead presented me with the ability to accomplish those goals,” said Gwendolyn, who discovered Home Instead while combing the internet for a job that matched her personality.

Gwendolyn’s background includes jobs as a Certified Nursing Assistant and caregiver. In many ways, she had been equipped to handle those jobs and her Care Professional position with Home Instead because of having shepherded her brothers and sisters. “My experience as a family caregiver came from being the eldest of eight kids. Growing up, I had the responsibility of looking after my siblings while my parents were working,” Gwendolyn explained.