When you might possibly have had the grandest grandparents in the Lone Star State, it’s no surprise that your strong emotional attachment to elderly family members eventually led to a successful career in professional senior care. And Lauren Riley is among the best of the best, having been honored as Care Professional of the Month at Home Instead® of Victoria.
“Growing up,” Lauren explained, “I had the best grandparents a kid could ask for. They were my heart and my soul. My grandmother enjoyed making homemade jellies and knitting. Growing up, we’d always help her with jelly making. Since Grandmother did not drive, I got the opportunity to take her to the various establishments in town. I enjoyed those experiences very much. She said I had a talent for caregiving. She encouraged me to pursue a career in this field.”
Home Instead Recruiting and Retention Coordinator Maegan Coldewey is glad Lauren’s grandmother pointed Lauren toward senior care. Sixteen months after Lauren joined Home Instead on Aug. 2, 2022, Maegan announced Lauren had been selected for the franchise’s highest employee award as the first honoree of 2024. Recalling her first step toward Home Instead, Lauren said: “Mrs. Maegan contacted me through Indeed.com. She needed a Care Pro for a client in the Cuero area, about a 17-mile drive from my home.”
Maegan’s Home Instead job offer came at precisely the right time for Lauren. “With reference to my former job before I joined Home Instead, I had been very unhappy. Working at the nursing home just wasn’t for me. I gladly accepted Mrs. Maegan’s job offer. I have been doing this kind of work since I was 21 years old. Things have gone well. I am honored to have been picked for Care Pro of the Month,” she said.
More than working at a care community, Lauren also had been a private-duty caregiver. “I had started working with a little lady and her son. I was with her for three years, side by side, day and night. We even had a few sleep-overs (overnight shifts) together. I dedicated my life to her as if she were my grandmother,” Lauren said, discussing the bonding process that was quickly established.
“She taught me life was always about the small things. She was my best friend for three years. No matter how bad a day she was having, she would just look at me and smile. At that moment, I knew everything would always be OK.”
Lauren has continued to establish strong relationships with her clients since joining the Home Instead franchise owned by Dillon Rice and Pietro Jordao.
“What I like most about my job is the bond I make with my clients, as well as all of my clients’ amazing stories. As a Care Pro, you are learning about that person,” Lauren said. “I enjoy hearing all of the wonderful stories they tell. Each of my clients has been amazing, and I am thankful for the opportunity to take care of them.”
Lauren added: “I took care of a man who taught me how to play Monopoly in an unusual way, which I didn’t know. I also learned he was married for more than 20 years, and his wife had been an elementary teacher. He had been a professional golfer who happened to make a hole in one at a tournament in 1956.”
Because of the one-on-one nature of their in-home care jobs, Care Pros don’t often get the chance to rub shoulders with co-workers, but Lauren has gotten that opportunity. “I have had the pleasure of meeting a few of my fellow Care Pros. I do have a favorite co-worker with whom I swap out shifts every couple of days throughout the week,” Lauren said.
“My co-worker is one of the best bakers of homemade cookies I know. She has always been honest and upfront with me. I am grateful for the small things she has done for me throughout the last couple of years. Being by her side with the same client for almost two years now has been a blessing.”
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 services, visit our website.
