For nearly 15 years, two-time Care Professional of the Month Gloria Gentle and her clients at Home Instead® of Itasca, Illinois, have almost always been matches made in heaven. “I’ve always told the office, ‘Give me the most challenging ones. I enjoy winning them over.’ Of course, I don’t always face difficulties. I wish to say I’ve had many fulfilling experiences,” said Gloria, whose sterling caregiving track record also includes the 1998 employee of the year at a different home-care agency.
To find the origins of Gloria’s amazing life of caregiving, one must go back in time more than 40 years and then travel to Central America’s smallest country. By vehicle, it’s about 2,800 miles from Gloria’s award-winning Home Instead office in a Chicago suburb to Belize City. It was in Belize where a young Gloria combed her great-grandmother’s gray hair and helped her shower. With Gloria joining in, the combined family caregiving efforts were highly successful – Gloria’s great-grandmother lived to the age of 106. “I would get her out of bed and into the sunshine, and she appreciated that,” Gloria recalled.
Skipping to one younger generation, Gloria said her grandmother was an influential caregiving and faith-filled figure in her life. “I think I got my caregiver’s touch from my grandmother because I saw her do so many amazing things. As a young child, I walked with my grandmother to church. In fact, she insisted that I go to her church. I became a member there and later taught Sunday school classes,” Gloria explained.
Gloria recalled a dramatic caregiving episode that involved her grandmother and a cousin. “My cousin was desperate and came to us with her 7-pound, 8-ounce baby who wouldn’t eat nor open her eyes. She might’ve been close to death. My grandmother put a Bible under the baby’s head, and I put a pillow between the Bible and the baby’s head. We took her to a pharmacy with us where we got some medicine. They recommended using a syringe, but my grandmother put one drop of the medicine on her finger and gave it to the baby every four hours. After three days, the baby squeezed my finger. Things got better and better. Today, that baby, who may have been near death, is married and has two children,” Gloria said.
Gloria immigrated from Belize to the U.S. in 1981. After working for another agency, Gloria joined owner Kelly Hutchison’s Home Instead franchise in June 2008. “Kelly and his staff are very compassionate. They communicate well. They make accommodations for us Care Pros. In my case, Human Resources Manager Alina Merrill handles my transportation arrangements, among other things, so I want to give her a shoutout,” said Gloria, who was first honored as Care Pro of the Month in 2013 and again in February 2023.
“During the very few times when something has bothered me, I always tell the office. They say, ‘Gloria, calm down. You know, don’t you, that you are the best.’ When I get a new client, the office says, ‘We let the family know you will be bringing that beautiful light that is inside you all the time.’ One client told the office, ‘Nobody could do the job like Gloria. She is beautiful!’ ”
Gloria has two live-in clients. One client, who needs a walker, receives Gloria’s assistance Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Gloria has encouraged the client to remain as active as possible. “When I started, she didn’t want to walk down her ramp. I said, ‘Let’s just try it. I am with you all the way.’ We did it, and I took her back up in a wheelchair. It was a start. There is a fear of falling, not only with this client but with many seniors. I just move their spirits upward and they trust me. When you gently touch someone for reassurance, on the hand or arm, it brings out courage in them and gives them confidence,” Gloria said.
Gloria’s client from Monday through Thursday morning was in the military, and veterans are near and dear to Gloria’s heart. “I want to give back to America’s seniors, especially the war veterans. I keep telling my client if it wasn’t for veterans like him, there would be no freedom for us Americans. I am patriotic. When I get a new client, the first thing I look for is if the client was a military veteran. I have asked the wives, ‘Was your husband a warrior?’ ” Gloria said. “If Mr. A. is not telling a military story, he’s talking about his wife. All of his stories are special.”
Many former clients are unforgettable. “I motivated a client to get up from bed and talk. He came out of rehabilitation, and the family knew he was depressed. I learned from them that their senior loved one was a Green Bay Packers fan, so I found a Packers shirt, and that’s what I wore on my first day with the client. When he saw me and my Packers shirt, his spirit went from being depressed to uplifted. Fairly soon, he was up and around and talking,” she said.
Another former client had been alone one day, fell and spent 16 hours on the floor. Her yelling alerted a neighbor, who called for help. Gloria said: “I helped her regain her confidence in standing and walking. Bit by bit, I helped her out the door one day and walking again. I am not sure how much a therapist had done for her. She wanted me to help her stand up and stay up. Then she wanted to walk by herself, but I told her it wasn’t possible and that she needed a walker. She accomplished the mobility just the same with a walker.”
Compassion, companionship, empathy and reassurance – all of those qualities – are generated from Gloria’s deep faith. She said: “You need to have faith in God to do this work.” Gloria added: “As one client’s life was ebbing away, he said: ‘I can’t close my eyes. I am not sure where I will go.’ I told him, ‘Jesus is with you in that bed.’ I told him three times, and then he said he saw a man in all white with him. He then passed. With another client, I alerted a family member, ‘You need to sit with your dad now because it won’t be long.’ The family appreciates it because they don’t know what to think or do during stressful times they’ve never faced.”
Gloria’s favorite Bible verses cover a variety of life’s situations: John 3:16, John 11:16, 2 Timothy 3:16 and Isaiah 40:31, which says: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
“I find compassion and hope from Home Instead and from my clients. I told my family I’m not stopping this job. God has given strength to help people, and I will continue,” she said.
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.
