Vickie Views Her Work as a Ministry
Home Instead® CAREGiver of the Month Vickie Emmons was honored 11 years ago as the Colorado Care Community Activity Director of the Year. Vickie has been a top-notch senior-care professional for the past 22 years, having switched from being a preschool teacher to becoming a CNA in 1999.
Vickie deserves every accolade she’s received, but she’s not working for honors or attention.
“What I am doing is a ministry. It is the perfect job, although it does not feel like a job. My husband and I are ordained ministers. I feel I can show the love of Christ to those I help,” said Vickie, who was selected as the July employee of the month at Home Instead of Lubbock, an award-winning franchise owned by Tracy and Terry Baugh.
Recruitment and Engagement Coordinator Juanita Camacho said: “Vickie is another of our amazing CAREGivers and an all-around good person. Her dedication to our clients and to Home Instead comes straight from the heart. Vickie has the most amazing personality. Her smile lights up a room and immediately makes our clients feel at ease and confident in her ability to assist. Vickie communicates well with clients, their families and our office.”
Vickie reaches back to her childhood years in West Texas when she talks about her joy of being around seniors. “I had a great relationship with my grandmother. She didn’t need family caregiving help when I spent time with her. She volunteered for nursing-home work and visits on behalf of her church, which made a big impression on me. I can remember tagging along with her, and now I have come full circle in senior care. I wasn’t able to help her much in her later years, when she had Alzheimer’s, because I had moved to Colorado in 1991,” Vickie explained.
In Colorado, Vickie held several different positions when she moved into senior care. In one job, she was an assistant activities director and CNA at a care community. Vickie quickly learned she liked the activities director position, and she became a nationally certified elder-care activities director. She later became the lead activities director for several care communities that were under the same ownership. Later, Vickie worked for the City of Aurora in suburban Denver in elderly adult services that include day care. But changes were ahead, including a return to Lubbock in 2017. “City government cut the elderly adult services jobs, and money was spent on additional law enforcement. At the same time, my husband was laid off after a long career with a telecommunications corporation,” Vickie said.
“Moving to Lubbock allowed us to check on my parents. I did not want all of the responsibilities to fall on my sister, who also lives here. After all, senior care is what I am trained to do. My dad is 88 and still farms, although he is cutting back. Dad is diabetic, and we look in on him. My mother is 85 and retired from academic work. With a Ph.D. in education and psychology, she was a psychologist who worked with Texas Tech students. Since my parents didn’t need much help, I looked for senior-care jobs and found Home Instead,” Vickie said.
Vickie loves working for Home Instead. “This is my second time, having rejoined Home Instead in July 2020. I first started in 2017 but left for a life enrichment coordinator position at a facility. When COVID-19 hit, there were no more activities. The residents stayed in their rooms. I asked Home Instead if I could come back. They said, ‘Sure,’ ” Vickie said.
One of Vickie’s clients moved to Michigan to be closer to family. She has dementia and was anxious before Vickie started helping her. “She was in pandemic quarantine. I kept her mind off the idea of going out. I got her started on puzzles, and she loved it. Her daughter-in-law called me from Michigan and told me my former client was hooked on puzzles and was going strong with them,” Vickie said.
For a 50-year-old male client, Vickie is the only CAREGiver, although he receives visits from family members and friends. The client was “in a shell” when Vickie first arrived. But she changed that. He went from staying for three hours in his room to later being in his room only 30 minutes or less during Vickie’s four-hour shift. “After I was with him a week, the office told me, ‘Oh, he loves you.’ He would listen to me and takes my suggestions to heart. I show him respect and give independence and choices,” Vickie said.
Vickie added: “If I can be a ray of sunshine in a client’s day, it makes a big difference. The bottom line is, if someone doesn’t have the heart for seniors and other clients, he or she should not be doing this job. I treat people the same way I would like to be treated. I love my clients with all my heart, and they know it.”
Asked about her future, Vickie said: “I truly love working for Home Instead. Anything in my future would revolve around my parents’ care. We moved here to be available to help them. God’s got things under control. Everything happens for a reason.”
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (806) 281-4663 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
