For more than 36 years, Becky Weisberg has effectively communicated compassion and empathy to those whom she has been committed to making life better. She has helped both young and old. While her big heart is visible, Becky’s detailed documentation of each client situation also has caught the eye of her Home Instead® managers for the past six years Becky has spent with franchise that serves Boulder, Broomfield and northwest Adams Counties.
When Becky was honored as the award-winning office’s Care Professional of the Month for June, Recruitment and Engagement Coordinator Brenda Munro pointed out Becky’s communications skills are off-the-charts high. Brenda said: “Our office unanimously chose Becky as our Care Pro of the Month. She is an amazing communicator. Her passion for her clients comes through in the shift notes she leaves each day. We look forward to reading them.”
Brenda added: “In my short time with Home Instead, she was the first Care Pro I met in person. Around Christmas, she brought in one of her clients to pick up their gifts. I remember saying to the team, ‘Wow, do all of our Care Pros love their clients as much as Becky does?’ It looked like she was with her grandmother because Becky was so doting and loving. She is an all-around fantastic Care Pro, and this is a well-deserved recognition.”
Becky’s legacy of helping others began in her own home years ago. “My parents were in their late 30s and early 40s when they started having children. I was 18 when my father had emphysema and spent most of his time in bed. My job was to make sure he had oxygen and check in with him during the day to make sure he had what he needed while my mother was at work. I remember my father asking me to read to him when he was ready to begin his new journey. He told me he was tired of being sick, and was ready to go,” Becky recalled.
Before coming to Colorado, Becky had worked at a juvenile child-care facility for those who were mostly runaways. Some had faced shoplifting charges, breaking-and-entering charges or more serious crimes. The child-care facility eventually transitioned to a juvenile detention center.
After arriving on the Front Range, Becky worked for Denver Children’s Home for 30-plus years before coming to Home Instead. She was a supervisor for six dorms and also trained new staff. “Most came from abusive or neglectful homes, so our job was to give them some structure, teach coping skills and provide a safe and healing environment,” Becky said. “We provided many different therapies: family, music, art and equine therapy, to name a few. The most important thing to learn was not to take things personally, when the children were having a bad day and targeting staff with choice words and phrases.”
Becky said she made the transition from children to seniors because she “was fast approaching my later work years and not as well-equipped to chase after children or physically manage those who needed extra support.”
Becky worked for two years at an assisted living home on the overnight shift twice a week, while still working at Denver Children’s Home. At the assisted living home, Becky learned some skills in helping with transfers, changing clients in bed, as well as a few tricks on how to change the sheets while the client was still in the bed and providing personal care.
“Then I took a break from working 60-hour weeks for about a year before searching for something I could do once I left the Denver Children’s Home,” she said. “My daughter helped me find Home Instead, and I thought I could do that. And thus began my new journey while working a few more months at the Denver Children’s Home.”
Becky’s Home Instead work fulfillment comes from meeting the clients and learning their stories. She said, “I also appreciate the Home Instead team and how everyone shows how much they value and care about their employees.”
Saying she has many favorite memories from past and present clients, Becky said one of her early memories was getting to meet a couple who were together for 75 years. “I thought they had the best love story. He would share that they met in college, and how he was very patient in waiting for her to notice him. They were both teachers.”
Referring to the couple, Becky added: “They were well ahead of their time because they developed some of the teaching techniques that seem new to us today. The husband had a great sense of humor and liked to catch the Care Pros off guard. His wife was losing the ability to move around safely and became bed-bound. I remember sitting next to her and holding her hand while she rested, and playing tunes from the Music Channel when she was awake. This brought back good memories of when they used to go to the dances at Elitch Gardens.”
During companionship, Becky finds the appropriate things to interest her clients and match their capabilities. “I enjoy playing the alphabet game or activities with my clients who can’t see well enough to read or play traditional games. It helps to keep them focused and allows them to see how smart they still are. We have even named all the states in alphabetical order,” she said.
Becky loves being a part of the Care Pro team for the Colorado franchise owned by Mike Lammers, a member of the highly successful Honor and Home Instead network. Honor is the world’s largest home care network with the most advanced care platform, revolutionizing how society cares for older adults, their families and Care Professionals. Honor acquired Home Instead in 2021, and the combined company supports the work of more than 100,000 Care Professionals across 13 countries and meets the growing needs of millions of older adults and their families worldwide.
All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (720) 890-0184 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
