Home Instead® Care Professional of the Month Agnieszka Szymanik is known to most of her clients as “Agnes.” Twenty-three years ago, when the Polish native started her “American adventure,” as she calls it, Agnes began picking up other first names during her professional senior-care journey.
“Most often I took care of people struggling with memory who didn’t really know who I was and where I came from. As a result, they often thought I was their daughter or granddaughter and called me by their loved ones’ names. That’s why I had many names in America. I was Margaret, Angie, Gloria, Gladys, Alice and many others. All of those names contribute to my personal history but most of all, I am still the same Agnes,” said Agnes, who joined Home Instead of Itasca three years ago after finding owner Kelly Hutchinson’s award-winning franchise online.
Agnes’ “American Adventure” is a unique one that began in April 2000. “That was the first time I flew from Poland to Chicago to visit my mother. Of course, I was looking for a job, but it wasn’t difficult for me because my mother worked as a caregiver for the sick or the elderly, and I had been taking care of my beloved grandmother for three years in Poland. So, of course, I took a caregiver job. Since 2000, I have taken care of many people. I remember names and places. I worked in Wisconsin and Florida, but most often in Illinois near Chicago,” Agnes said.
“During these 23 years of being a caregiver, there have certainly been many funny stories and many tragic ones. I often have worked with people until the end of their journey. It is always an extremely difficult time to experience, but I know my presence and the job I am doing helped them live their own life until the end.”
With Home Instead and its staff members, Agnes remembers her initial encounter that occurred in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Her first conversation took place as a video conference during an interview that went well. Shortly after, Agnes started training at the former Home Instead office on Higgins Road in Elk Grove Village. Then she went to work.
On April 14, Human Resources Manager Alina Merrill announced that Agnes had been honored as the Home Instead’s Care Professional of the Month. Among the considerations for achieving Care Pro of the Month status, an employee has shown she has gone above and beyond the call of duty, Alina pointed out. Agnes embodies Home Instead’s guiding principles of “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.” She is someone who is exceptional at her work with any client, Alina emphasized.
Agnes described what she loves most about her job:
- “I give my clients a lot of love, help them cope with their illnesses and help them feel needed.”
- “I treat and love each of the people to whom I give companionship as if they were my own grandma or grandpa. It makes me feel like I have a huge and exceptional family.”
- “I like to cook and bake treats, and do gardening, which are hobbies we can all enjoy and taste!”
Agnes also discussed the specialness of her Care Professional position.
“Almost always when I have worked on a longtime basis with older people, most of course had children. And then, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were born while I was part of my clients’ family. I often participated in baptisms, first communions, bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs, and then weddings and baby showers again. It’s still hard to believe that some of those children are already adults,” Agnes said.
“Working in families with traditions that are different from my Polish ones, I got acquainted with many cultures I had previously known only from books or movies, and with a different cuisine. In a family from Japan, I learned not only how to make sushi, but I also liked eating it and how to properly brew green herbal tea.”
Agnes added: “I love my job, and I feel fulfilled. Thank you to everyone at Home Instead for accepting me on the team.”
Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (847) 690-9825 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
