Lara Ball could not have had a better role model than her late mother, Kimberly Campbell Keeney, a neonatal intensive care nurse for 26 years and an RN for RSW Regional Jail for a short time, who passed away unexpectedly in 2018. Lara said, “I think of her every day. Sometimes it still hasn’t hit me that she’s gone. Like Mom, I just want to be able to help people – that’s something I’ve always hoped to do.”
Someone told Lara her mother would be smiling proudly when her daughter recently was honored as Caregiver of the Month at Home Instead® of Winchester. Lara said, “Yes, I think she would. Working for Home Instead probably is a good step toward deciding if I want to become a CNA and possibly have a nursing career. As far as determining a long-term fit, I want to see how this goes before proceeding. Like a lot of kids, I just wasn’t sure what I’d do as I was working my way through high school. I took culinary classes during my junior and senior year, and enjoy baking and cooking still to this day.”
Lara’s grandmother pointed her toward the award-winning Home Instead franchise that serves the Northern Shenandoah Valley. “My Mimi saw a Home Instead newspaper advertisement. I put off applying for a while, but I am glad I did,” said Lara, who also was working part time in a daycare when she joined Home Instead on Aug. 25, 2021. Since then, Lara left her daycare position but is working as a private-duty weekday babysitter with children while also serving as a nonpaid volunteer caregiver on Saturdays for a neighbor’s 97-year-old mother who lives with her.
Lara’s grandparents live next door to her. “I have been doing odds and ends for them. It’s always been that way for me. When I was younger, I’d get off the school bus and go directly to my grandparents’ house. My grandmother has arthritis in her hands, and it has gotten worse lately. She has had one shoulder and both knees replaced, and she recently recovered from a pacemaker procedure. My granddad is always up and going, whether he feels his best or not. He is such a giving man and would do anything I ask of him,” said Lara, who has used her compassionate heart in other ways. “While I was in high school, I did projects at the local nursing homes as part of a school club. As part of our church youth group, we visited Washington, D.C., and helped the homeless.”
For Home Instead, Lara goes to a couple’s home, primarily to help the 92-year-old husband. He and his 87-year-old wife “feel like an extra set of grandparents” to Lara. “It’s a reciprocal feeling. I think they view me as if I were a granddaughter. I know I don’t want to leave them until his days end. The husband wants me to do just whatever his wife needs to have done, so taking a load off her shoulders actually helps him quite a bit. There is light housekeeping, bathing assist, clothes assist, and I do the grocery shopping. I go to the local Arby’s, Spelunker’s, Wendy’s, KFC and Golden China a couple of times a week for them,” Lara said.
Lara said bonding with the couple was almost instantaneous. “On the first day with them, I recognized the wife from my school days. She worked in our cafeteria as a cook. She vaguely remembered me. The husband will talk to me, but he has hearing challenges, and he battles fatigue quite a bit of the time. There’s no dementia. The wife is good on her feet, but sometimes she’s a little too quick on her feet and her head will start spinning,” Lara said.
Lara said the couple is alone at night, and they experienced a recent scare that also caught Lara by surprise. “I walked in the door one morning and saw a pool of blood on the floor. The husband had fallen and suffered a cut to his head that probably looked much worse than it was. His wife called 911, and they took him to the hospital and stitched him up. He also had a bruised arm. Mobility is an issue, and he was trying to use his commode on his own. After he went to the hospital, his wife stayed behind and greeted me at the door in tears. I went to work, cleaning up the blood and comforting her. They held him overnight at the hospital, primarily because of transportation issues. He came home the next day. He uses a walker. I make sure it’s always by him, and I am always a standby assist,” Lara explained.
Lara loves being a part of the Caregiver team for owner Keith Clay’s franchise. In fact, Lara recommended Home Instead to two friends, and one is still with the franchise. The Winchester office is a member of a network comprised of Home Instead, Inc. and its parent company, Honor. With the world’s largest home-care network and the most advanced care platform, Honor and Home Instead are revolutionizing care for older adults, their families and Caregivers. Combined, the network has more than 100,000 Caregivers across 13 countries, meeting the growing needs of millions of older adults and their families worldwide.
All Home Instead Caregivers are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please apply online at www.HomeInstead.com/247/home-care-jobs. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website at www.homeinstead.com/247
