If there were a 1-to-10 Care Professional excellence scale at Kelly Hutchison’s award-winning Home Instead® franchise in Itasca, Illinois, Zero Tucker would rate as an “11.” The proof is in the pudding: Zero has been honored as a Care Pro of the Month a little less than 13 months after joining Home Instead.
So, what sets Zero apart? For one, they take great pains to recall their clients’ routines, a seemingly small detail but very significant one to seniors and their family members.
“My favorite collective experience I’ve had with every client – yes, every one of them – is their appreciation for my ability to remember their exact routine by the second or third shift I’m with them. It’s very easy for me to memorize each client’s needs and wants throughout the shift. This comes in handy with clients who are particular about how things are done. In general, when you’ve been doing the same things day in and day out for so many years, the last thing anyone wants is a disruption with their routine,” Zero said.
Companionship is another underrated senior care component to those who are unfamiliar with the profession or who have never been family caregivers.
“Like most Care Professionals,” Zero said, “my absolutely favorite part of my job is getting to connect with people. I adore the conversations I get to have with clients and their families, which include the stories of their experiences. Getting to know people and learning their life stories is something I will always hold near and dear to my heart since it’s so personal.”
For Zero and other Care Pros, touching lives impacts their souls, whether they are offering emotional support in a companionship role or providing physical help such as light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders or personal care. “Of course,” Zero said, “I just love being able to help people get through their days. I grew up helping people, so it’s always been a part of my character to want to work with people who rely on people like me.”
Zero was 17 years old when they became a Personal Care Attendant, and Zero worked in professional senior care for 2½ years. “I was the PCA for my grandmother until she passed away. I spent my last few weeks as her caregiver while she was on hospice after learning she had a cancer that spread extremely fast. After her passing, I took a break from caregiving until I started with Home Instead,” explained Zero, who moved from their native Massachusetts to Illinois about a week and a half before joining Home Instead of Itasca in December 2021.
“As the older sibling, I took on the caregiver role for my mom while she was healing from the numerous surgeries she’s had over the years. I still go back to Massachusetts occasionally for a week or two after Mom has surgeries to help her, since my other siblings are busy with school and work most of the time. Working for Home Instead has made this possible. In other jobs I’ve held, the employers were not as accepting of an employee taking time off to help family. Home Instead understands the need to accommodate employees when they’re in a vulnerable place.”
With her PCA experience in mind, Zero found Home Instead on Indeed.com while looking for jobs. Zero, who will be 22 in March, had mostly worked retail from age 14 to 17. “Even though I had earned a PCA certification at age 17, I continued to work in retail part time until I was 20 years old while also working as a caregiver,” Zero said.
Zero’s PCA experienced opened the door for professional senior care in Illinois. “I was actually still in Massachusetts when I had applied with Home Instead and first spoke with someone about the job. I discussed my previous experience, why I was looking, and when I’d be in Illinois. I set up my day and time to interview and anxiously awaited the day while traveling and settling in as best as I could,” Zero recalled.
Zero’s interview went “very well,” and Zero added: “Home Instead seemed like the perfect fit for me. I was happy to work for a company that showed me right away how much they cared about their employees. Home Instead knows about the situations its employees deal with, and Home Instead is overly accommodating with schedules that best fit our day-to-day lives.”
On Jan. 9, Home Instead Human Resources Manager Alina Merrill announced Zero had been honored as the franchise’s January Care Pro of the Month. Zero embodies Home Instead’s guiding principles of “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.” Zero is someone who is exceptional with any client, Alina said.
Zero said: “I’ve worked with many clients through Home Instead, and I can’t really say I have one specific caregiving story that is my favorite. I really enjoy being around everyone who I help, and every day brings something new. I love being able to be a Care Professional whose clients look forward to having in their homes.”
Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (847) 512-8719 or apply online at https://www.homeinstead.com/location/205/home-care-jobs/. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website at https://www.homeinstead.com/location/205.
