Meet Our Team

Casaundra Ernst was born and raised in Kansas where she still lives with her two wonderful kids. She came to Home Instead Senior Care as a Care Professional. She quickly was able to adapt to the individualized needs of the clients she served. She was able to quickly learn how to deal with even the toughest clients. Casaundra went from being a Care Professional to the Administrative Assistant/Lead Care Professional for the office then was promoted to Service Coordinator. Recently she was promoted to Senior General Manager. She overseas both Overland Park and Kansas city franchises. She continues to do the Service Coordinator position where she works to match our Care Professionals up with our clients but now also has added daily management of the office to her duties. The love and skill she had as a Care Professional for her clients help her understand the needs of Care Professionals and clients alike. She enjoys helping others and their families in time of need. Her past work in customer service support makes her a great asset to the Home Instead team.

Artis is Training Coordinator for the Home Instead locations in Overland Park and Kansas City and Administrative Assistant for the Kansas City location. Artis has always been a caregiver at heart, so when she saw the Home Instead motto, To Us it's Personal, it really resonated with her. Artis loves taking care of people. Her philosophy is to always try to leave her clients a little better than she found them. She also has cared for several family members with various illness and church members who did not know where to turn. Artis's background in hospitals, nursing homes, home care, school nursing, mental health and administration has helped prepare her to be a Home Instead Team Member. Artis started with Home Instead in 2017 as a Care Professional and was promoted to her current position as Training Coordinator and Administrative Assistant in 2019. Her background as a nurse and her personal experience as a Care Professional made her the perfect person to train new Home Instead Care Professionals. Artis also does some work with our quality assurance program, making sure our clients individualized needs are being met. She loves being a part of the great team in Kansas City.

Deborah Wright is a native of Kansas City, Missouri.  She is a graduate of Avila and Baker Universities and attended Lillis High School.  In 2009, she retired from Hallmark Cards after 39 years of service in graphics.  In 2017, she began working for Home Instead as a Care Professional and continued that journey until December of 2020.  At the end of 2020, she moved into the Home Instead office and became the Quality Assurance Coordinator for the Kansas office and now has moved to the Client Care Coordinator position.  She believes that working with seniors is truly a blessing and a huge learning experience with benefits that most rarely see.  As the Client Care Coordinator she takes initial inquiry calls, signs up new clients and then follows the clients to make sure their needs are met.  She also assists with training Care Professionals in the homes of clients and make sure that we are meeting all of the client’s needs. She strongly believes in the  old cliché that states, treat others like you would want them to treat you.

Ava Shipley’s home country is El Salvador, Ava has always loved being around her grandparents and aunts. She enjoyed hearing their stories and the wisdom they shared. This childhood experience led her to a career as a Care Professional at Home Instead in 2019.  She remembers the first time she was faced with Alzheimer’s it was her very own grandmother who was diagnosed along with some of her other relatives. The sons and daughters had to deal with them taking care of them. Her mother started acting different, lacking focus and easily forgetting things. It was hard for her to accept that her mom was not able to take care of herself anymore.  She helped her mom as much as she could before she came to the USA.  After moving to the USA she realized the need for caregivers. Her heart is moved when she watches the aging population driving or trying to do their own grocery shopping, so when she saw the Home Instead TV advertisement, she answered the call to be part of the Home Instead Care Professional team. She have been learning about senior care in theory but also in the field. She gives God all the glory and honor because He is the one who sent her to this country and He helps her to do her job the best way possible. She was promoted to Lead Care Professional/Admin Assistant in 2021 and she really enjoy working for Home Instead. Home Instead has given her the opportunity to help people who have lived their life working or taking care of their families. As a Lead Care Professional she helps our clients and Care Professionals by providing exceptional care and training in each home.

Elizabeth comes to Home Instead with a variety of people-helping training and experience. She graduated from Calvary University with an undergraduate degree in music education and a graduate degree in Biblical Counseling. Elizabeth also has had hands-on experience caring for clients through working as a Care Professional with Home Instead since 2019. She also has worked as a Certified Biblical Counselor (IABC) at Reigning Grace Counseling Center in Liberty, MO. She appreciates the flexible scheduling that Home Instead offers, as it helped pay her way through school, and she is excited when Home Instead fits the needs of potential Care Professionals.

Elizabeth was raised in the Kansas City area and in Italy, where her parents are missionaries. She has also been a member of a Hispanic church in the Kansas City area. She speaks English, Italian, and Spanish, and enjoys people from every culture and background. Elizabeth is grateful for her multi-ethnic experiences that enable her to relate more easily with anyone and everyone, a skill that serves her well in her role as Recruitment & Enrichment Coordinator. In her role she meets, hires and then supports the Care Professionals who work with our Home Instead clients.

Elizabeth enjoys being an active member of her church, assisting her church leaders with volunteer counseling, and playing music with friends whenever she gets the chance. She believes that she can never love and forgive others more than God has loved and forgiven her in Christ Jesus, and she is grateful for the opportunity to build and support the Care Professional team in the Home Instead office.

Caregiving has always been a part of the plan for Audra. She says that Caregiving is her purpose and passion. She especially loves caring for seniors. Audra’s first experience of caring for someone was her “Great” Grandmother. She remembers that as a young girl growing up with her siblings that her family would go to her Grandmother’s home and help take care of her daily.   Audra would help and assist in any way she was able to even as a child. The joy she got out of being a help to her Grandmother and her family blessed her. The feeling it gave her was priceless.

Audra’s Father became ill and his health started to deteriorate rapidly. He was placed on kidney dialysis, was diagnosed with Congestive Heart failure, and had a pacemaker put in. Audra instantly became his Primary care giver.  Her father gave her confidence as she cared for him, and it made her feel like she was meant to be a care giver.  It came so naturally and easy and she knew it was her calling to care for others.  Audra has worked different jobs in different fields but she enjoyed working as a care giver the most. Audra is our Quality Assurance Coordinator at Home Instead and she is passionate about what she does and takes pride in it.  Her duties include visiting with clients and families, making sure that their individual needs are met.  Additionally Audra does In Home Trainings with our Care Professionals, teaching them everything they need to know to be successful with the clients they care for.