An Answer to Prayer: Belinda Takes Care Pro Position
Belinda Epperson was an answer to Home Instead® Staff Coordinator Sharon Bledsoe’s prayer.
Belinda’s best friend, Tina Brown, and Sharon worship at the same church. Belinda explained, “Tina heard Sharon’s prayer request for more people to help seniors, so Tina approached Sharon and asked her about it. Sharon said, ‘We most definitely do need senior-care workers. Do you know someone?’ Tina told Sharon about me, and Sharon said, ‘Send your friend to us.’ ”
During the week following the church conversation between Tina and Sharon, Belinda met Sharon at the Home Instead office near West Independence Boulevard and North South Street in Mount Airy. “Sharon helped me get the process rolling to become a Care Professional,” Belinda recalled. About eight months later, Belinda was honored as the award-winning Home Instead franchise’s Care Pro of the Month.
While announcing Belinda’s honor, Sharon said: “Belinda is a dedicated, hard-working and kind Care Pro. I am so glad she came to me for a job. I love having her with us.” For her part, Belinda said: “I have enjoyed my job tremendously. To me, this does not feel like the run-of-the-mill everyday job. It is important to make sure someone is safe and feels secure with the assurance of compassionate companionship – not stressed or unhappy.”
Belinda got an early start in senior care out of necessity, meeting the needs of a family member. “I began as a family caregiver with my grandma when she broke her arm. Then I was needed to fulfill more duties as time went on. That led to me to taking care of both grandparents. As a result, I was getting paid as their caregiver, a duty that lasted for about four years,” Belinda said.
As a family caregiver, Belinda was doing most of the things a Home Instead Care Pro does. In addition to companionship, Care Pros provide safety assurance, meal preparation, medication reminders and light housekeeping, and transportation and errands. Care Pros offer personal assistance with eating, grooming, dressing, bathing, incontinence care, cognitive impairment, hospice support and mobility. By expertly doing so, Care Pros not only assist their clients, but help the clients’ families eliminate worry, reduce stress and re-establish personal freedom.
To build on their knowledge and experience, Belinda and other Mount Airy Care Pros are offered the opportunity to increase their dementia-care skills by taking part in the Home Instead network’s one-of-a-kind training protocol. Home Instead’s Person-Centered Care Training for Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias is recognized by the Alzheimer’s Association® for incorporating the evidence-based dementia-care practice recommendations in these topic areas: Alzheimer’s and dementia, person-centered care, assessment and care planning, activities of daily living, and behaviors and communication.
While Care Pro skills are important, reliability, dependability, encouragement and compassionate bonding rate among the best ways to develop relationships, Belinda pointed out. “I like to ensure my clients’ well-being when family members can’t be with their senior loved ones. I like to see the joy on my clients’ faces when I come to work every day. If there is anything I can do additionally for them, I try to find a way to do it,” Belinda said.
She added, “When we go on our daily walk and venture past the client’s garage, he says, ‘I am going to drive again one day.’ I love to hear the stories about his Navy days.”
Van and Ann Lankford have been the Home Instead franchise’s co-owners since May 16, 2011, and Sharon joined the Home Instead staff a year later. The Lankfords are going stronger than ever and remain amazed by the opportunity to help Surry County seniors. “Really, it boils down to being a ministry,” they said.
Van, Ann, Sharon and Belinda are proud members of a franchise network directed by 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 Care Pros. Combined, the network has more than 100,000 Care Pros across 13 countries, meeting the growing needs of millions of older adults and their families worldwide.
