Elisa Thinks of Her Grandparents When She’s Helping Seniors
Serving as a Home Instead® CAREGiver℠, Elisa Ramirez said, is like being part of a family.
“Unfortunately,” Elisa revealed, “I never got the chance to take care of my grandparents because we lived a long distance apart, but I so wish I had that opportunity to help them. They have passed on, but their spirits are always in my heart, especially when I take care of our clients.”
Family members get to know each other well, and so it is with Elisa. In the months since Elisa became a CAREGiver at Home Instead of Midland-Odessa, she has enjoyed listening to her clients’ rich histories. “Our clients are sometimes older than 90, and their stories are amazing,” Elisa said. “One time we were watching a movie made in 1947, and my client told me she was 17 when the movie came out. She told me how things were back then.”
Elisa added: “Another client told me when he left the Navy in 1948, he sent for his first and only girlfriend to marry him on Valentine’s Day. She traveled from Texas to California, and they were married for more than 60 years. He said, ‘She’s been the best thing that happened to me.’ ”
Elisa is lifted up by such inspirational stories, and they are among the reasons Elisa is glad she stopped one day at the Home Instead office on West Illinois Avenue in Midland. “I found Home Instead by driving past their office several times, and I decided I wanted to be part of helping and serving others. So, I walked in and applied,” said Elisa, who in December 2020 joined the award-winning Home Instead franchise owned by Lorena Garza Shensky and William Shensky.
Two years ago, Elisa was laid off from her oilfield industry position because of an economic slowdown, so she applied at a nonprofit organization for office and administrative work. But with the COVID-19 pandemic starting in March 2020, the organization’s office was closed several times.
Elisa explained further: “So, I started helping in group homes. Needless to say, I got to know our clients and families, and I enjoyed what I was doing. It began to feel as if it was no longer a job or duty for me. Doing that fulfilling work was what I felt to be a calling. But again, the company had to downsize, and that’s how I found myself at Home Instead. I liked that in Home Instead’s orientation, the staff takes the time to show the details of successful care and explained clearly what is expected of the CAREGivers. For instance, this training helped me especially with knowledge of the care of bedbound clients.”
Imelda Hawkins, Home Instead’s assistant administrator as well as the franchise’s recruitment and engagement coordinator, announced that Elisa had been honored as Home Instead’s February CAREGiver of the Month.
“Elisa hit the ground running when she joined our Home Instead team in December and has quickly become one of our client’s favorite CAREGivers,” Imelda said. “Elisa has a compassionate heart that makes it easy for our clients to draw to her. Her gentleness, thoughtfulness and ability to think ahead and anticipate her client’s needs have earned her this great honor. When she is not sharing her heart with our seniors, Elisa enjoys sprucing up her yard and loves to garden. It has been a great joy to have Elisa on our team!”
Elisa said she would love to make senior care a long-term professional career. 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. “I have raised three children who are grown and gone, so I have found my place in this world, and that is to care for others,” she said.
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (432) 689-4663 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
