CAREGiver of the Month Kat Myrick treasured her short time with a kind, considerate client and his wife, an all-too-short period of caregiving that sadly ended at the close of 2020.
Kat recalled: “Despite the fact he had incurable cancer, he always thought of his wife first and didn’t want her to have to take care of him 24/7. If a CAREGiver wasn’t there, he’d wait for her to finish her work before asking for anything.”
Noting she assisted them from September through November, usually four to five nights a week, Kat admiringly said, “We always talked about how he made it through Thanksgiving, and we were hopeful he’d make it to Christmas. By the time we had made it to December, his condition was declining, and he went into hospice.”
Kat added, “Every morning at 5, I would make eggs, hash browns and bacon for him and his wife. We’d sit down and eat together. Then we would play a game of Rummikub until the CNA arrived. The client’s wife and I would pet their three cats while he was with the CNA. It was such a precious moment I’ll remember forever.”
Kat lamented that the client, in his early 60s and the youngest among his siblings, didn’t get a chance to retire and enjoy life. “He volunteered at the Denver Zoo, and they dedicated a spot just for him. You could easily see he had made an impact,” Kat said.
Memories of assisting such clients are among the reasons Kat joined Home Instead® of Boulder, Broomfield and northwest Adams Counties about a year ago. Owner Michael Lammers’ award-winning Home Instead® franchise is based in Louisville, Colorado.
“I found Home Instead online and decided this was a job that makes me feel like I’m doing something to change someone’s life in a positive way. My favorite part about being with Home Instead is seeing the smiles on my clients’ faces by the time a shift has ended,” Kat said.
“I’ve been working to help people and seniors specifically since I was 13, when I started cleaning a senior’s house and helping her in her home.”
Recruitment and Engagement Coordinator Rianne Matthews said: “Kat is warm and eager. She is a hard worker who does everything she can to step up when our clients have a need. One of our previous CAREGivers of the Month shares a client with Kat and told us in the office, ‘Kat has a gift. She is so good.’ I agree with that assessment. Kat’s compassionate heart shines in this work, and we are proud to honor her as our CAREGiver of the Month for June.”
With a smile, Rianne added: “An additional bonus about having Kat on our CAREGiver team is that she recruited one of her friends for Home Instead, a special person who also has become an excellent CAREGiver for us. It is a double bonus for us.”
For Kat, touching lives impacts her soul, whether she’s providing physical help such as light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders or personal care or if she is offering emotional support in a companionship role. She loves being a part of the CAREGiver team for Michael’s Colorado franchise, a member of a highly successful network founded in 1994 in Omaha, Nebraska, by Paul and Lori Hogan.
The Home Instead network is the world’s leading provider of in-home care services for seniors, with more than 1,200 independently owned and operated franchises that provide more than 80 million hours of care annually throughout the U.S. and 13 other countries.
Kat is among more than 90,000 CAREGivers worldwide, and she has helped add to those numbers because of her strong belief in Home Instead’s purpose. It isn’t hard to see Kat lives the Home Instead principles of “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.”
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (720) 890-0184 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
