Jeanna Ennels’ first family caregiving experience did not involve an elderly loved one. The care recipient had not yet reached 30. She was Jeanna’s sister.
“She is 10 years older than I am. My sister started losing her eyesight when she was in her late 20s, so that’s where it all began – my first attempt at caregiving. I was her eyes for a little while. I accompanied my sister to all of her doctors’ appointments and eye surgeries. Yes, I was there, never missing one,” Jeanna recalled.
Jeanna later opened her huge, empathetic heart to seniors when she worked at a nursing home for five years. Then came employment as a CAREGiver for Home Instead® of Victoria, the award-winning franchise owned by Pietro Jordao and Dillon Rice. Jeanna joined Home Instead on Jan. 19, 2021. Fewer than five months later, Home Instead Recruiting and Retention Coordinator Maegan Coldewey announced Jeanna had been honored as a CAREGiver of the Month.
Maegan must have felt as though she hit the human resources lottery in mid-January when she hired Jeanna and another employee who also has been honored as a CAREGiver of the Month. Maegan said, “Both ladies have been doing an amazing job since we hired them. Both Jeanna and our other CAREGiver are equally effective in their care of clients who have a higher acuity or others who can be very challenging or live in demanding households.”
While many people search for their jobs online, Jeanna found Home Instead through her best friend. “She told me about the company, and I agreed I should give it a try. I love older people, and I love helping them so that their lives can be a little easier,” Jeanna said. Discussing senior-care challenges, Jeanna said: “While I am attached to seniors, things don’t always go smoothly. Some will give you a run for your money, so to speak, but it’s all good at the end of the day.”
Jeanna provides safety assurance, meal preparation, medication reminders, light housekeeping, and transportation and errands. Her companionship skills are off the dial. Jeanna and other CAREGivers offer personal assistance with eating, grooming, dressing, bathing, incontinence care, dementia support, cognitive impairment, hospice support and mobility assistance. By expertly doing so, CAREGivers not only assist their clients, but help their families eliminate worry, reduce stress and re-establish personal freedom.
Touching lives impacts Jeanna’s soul, whether she’s providing physical help or if she is offering emotional support in a companionship role.
“The thing I love most about this job is the old stories you hear from clients. It amazes me to hear what was going on back in my seniors’ day, which could be as long ago as the 1930s. So far, my favorite stories have come from my current client. He has told me stories about when he served in the Navy. Some stories are good. Others, well, they are a bit out there. He jokes with me all the time and tries to teach me Spanish. I tease him that, ‘No sir, it’s not going happen’ – me speaking Spanish. I let him try,” Jeanna said with a laugh.
Jeanna loves being a part of the CAREGiver team for the Victoria franchise, a member of a highly successful network founded in 1994 in Omaha, Nebraska, by Paul and Lori Hogan. 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.
“Home Instead is an all-in-all wonderful company for whom I get to work. I love my job,” Jeanna said.
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (361) 433-0330 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
