You could hear the pride in Care Professional of the Month Edna Garcia’s voice as she talked about her most personal caregiving experiences. But there also was a tinge of sadness. It was clear that Edna had been honored to receive the opportunity to serve as a family caregiver for mother and grandmother. But … both are now gone. Now she takes care of Home Instead clients as if they are her family.
Family caregiving for her grandmother took place when Edna was 11 or 12 years old. “My grandmother was a diabetic amputee. When I helped with her care, there was plenty to do at times,” said Edna, who agreed with the notion that her family caregiving experience set her on a path toward professional senior care. “I worked at several different facilities since my high school graduation.”
Then Edna found Home Instead® of Victoria, Texas, in February 2023. “Since I had been working in the professional caregiving field, I conducted an online search in that field, and that’s when I found Home Instead. I also had known someone through social media, and she works for Home Instead, so I had a favorable impression,” Edna said.
Pietro Jordao and Dillon Rice have owned the award-winning Home Instead franchise since Aug. 1, 2020. When Recruiting and Retention Coordinator Maegan Coldewey announced Edna had been honored as Care Pro of the Month, Maegan said Edna displays Home Instead’s guiding principles of “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.”
Edna is the only Care Pro for a bedfast client, who was infected with COVID-19 a year and a half ago, when the virus entered her nervous system and disabled her. Having difficulty swallowing, the client is tube-fed. “Before COVID-19,” Edna said, “she was perfectly fine – walking, driving and just carrying on a normal life.” By taking care of the client on weekdays, Edna also supports the client’s husband and daughter.
“After my client was afflicted so severely by COVID-19, she went to a nursing home. But her husband said the care was not good, so he brought his wife home. After she came home, he had another agency before he hired Home Instead to help. I have been her only Care Pro, and I started last June,” Edna explained. “I perform the kinds of duties that a CNA would do. Our goal is to keep her out of a nursing home. A visiting nurse comes once a week, and a physical therapist also is supposed to come into the home.”
When Edna arrives, her client smiles. Whenever the client is having a bad day, her facial expressions tell the story. “Vocal communications are not good. She makes faces or laughs, and everything is good because I understand her for the most part. Her husband is a good communicator, and we’re ‘on the same page’ with the routine. When I arrive, her husband goes out to get groceries and runs other errands,” Edna said. “Her daughter also takes good care of her mother. The husband and daughter are on their own after I leave in the early afternoon.”
Edna also works weekend overnight shifts with a 24/7 dementia client, a widow who is in her 80s. “I’ve been with her for 2½ months. The client is mostly in bed during the night, but with dementia, she can be up at night. Because she has dementia and other Care Pros help her, I tell her who I am each time I come in. Not uncommon, her moods can run the gamut. She has her days when she has been friendly. It is a tough time in her life, and I am glad to be helping her,” Edna said.
In addition to her regular clients, Edna also takes open shifts. “What I like best is just caring for seniors. I like caregiving not only for the client but to help the client’s family members. On Thanksgiving, I was not scheduled to work with my weekday client, but I went by and checked in on her and her family,” Edna said. “I like Home Instead because it is a good company, and I want to stay with them. Our communication is good, and I like my hours.”
At our award-winning Home Instead franchise, owned by Pietro Jordao and Dillon Rice, Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (361) 433-0330 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
