Robin Celebrates 10 Successful Years With Home Instead
Ten years as a senior-care professional with the same employer constitutes “an eternity,” many elder-care service industry experts would agree. Home Instead® CAREGiver Robin Pruitt, who joined the award-winning Mount Airy office in October 2011, sees no end to her tenure with the franchise that is owned by Van and Ann Lankford and began operations May 16, 2011.
“I’m 60 years old, and I plan to stay with Home Instead until I retire if the Good Lord is willing to let me. I agree with my 97-year-old World War II client when he puts life in perspective by saying, ‘Being good to others, that is what matters for eternity. Working just to make money and have more and more material things seems fruitless because you can’t take them with you.’ My client is right. I believe you make yourself happy by making others happy.”
Robin has been making a lot of people happy for more than just the past 10 years. The long-time family caregiver served as a professional private-duty caregiver for two years before she joined Home Instead. Robin explained: “I had lost a client and didn’t have another one lined up, so I went to the employment office. They said, ‘Here’s a place that is hiring. It’s called Home Instead.’ I had not previously heard of them, probably because they had not been in town long.”
She added: “I turned to private-duty caregiving after working previously at mills and factories my whole life. My most recent factory job disappeared after the company’s operations moved to another country. So, it was hard to find a desirable job at my age. I guess a fast-food restaurant job might have been an option, but I wanted something else.”
It’s not surprising Robin has thrived as a Home Instead CAREGiver because of the experience she gained as a family caregiver. First, Robin helped her parents take care of her grandparents and an uncle. Robin’s grandfather died 50 years ago, and her grandmother passed away five years later. As the years flew by, Robin’s parents eventually faced their own medical challenges. “My son and I pretty much provided the care for my parents,” Robin said. Her mother passed away at age 82 in October 2021, and her father died about five months later at age 87.
Robin faced each family caregiving challenge pragmatically and with a strong sense of duty because of her farm upbringing. “Farm life is hard, but you never abandon family. My grandparents lived with us when things got worse for them. Overall, I was pressed into taking on responsibilities earlier in life than most other kids. For instance, I never got to play with baby dolls, but I don’t remember feeling deprived. Farm life taught me teamwork, discipline, self-sufficiency and respect. We also loved each other and hung together,” said Robin, who milked cows, harvested chickens for meat and canned vegetables and fruit.
Robin boils her Home Instead experience to several key thoughts. “The clients make the job enjoyable. For several reasons, it has been tough over the years when I lose a client. I have really connected with two good clients at this time,” Robin said.
With one client, for whom Robin has served seven days a week for the past nine years, the afternoon shifts are only 2 hours and 15 minutes long. The client who lives alone, is in her mid-60s and has multiple medical challenges. But because Robin is so organized and works every day of the week, things run smoothly. “The pace isn’t as fast as you’d think because I keep things in good order from day to day. You settle in a good, quick routine where everything can get taken care of without having to continually hustle around,” Robin said.
Robin is innovative, a CAREGiver who uses great common sense and judgment yet thinks outside the box when she believes it will help a client. “I helped my nine-year client find a dog, a terrier named Mocha. She needed to be motivated to move around, which helps her physically and emotionally. She also needed a companion, and the dog became her child. Mocha is a good, smart dog,” Robin said.
For five mornings a week, Robin helps a second client who is a 97-year-old World War II veteran who served in the Army Air Corps. While macular degeneration has hindered his vision, he is as sharp as a tack and loves to leave the home with Robin’s help to visit friends. The client lives by himself after his wife died seven months ago. He has a 69-year-old daughter and a granddaughter who also help him.
“He keeps me laughing. He is a joy. I love him to death. We have long conversations, and he educates me. Despite the onset of blindness, he knows where everything is in his home. He has lots of friends, and they like to get together. He is old-school, a man who was raised up in such a way that he can cope with challenges. He’s steady,” Robin said.
Robin is also steady. Franchise co-owner Van Lankford agrees. “What Robin has done is quite a feat in our industry. She deserves a story that shines the spotlight on her,” he said.
The humble Robin takes an “aw-shucks” attitude, but she agrees with others who say her energy level continues to run high. “I like to go, go, go whether I am at work or home. I like caregiving and the idea of assisting those who are vulnerable. As a farm girl, my passion also centers on animals, and I have three dogs. If I see a starving puppy or cat, I make sure they are fed. I just have a compassionate heart. That’s what makes me tick,” she said.
