Honored Care Pro Louella Is Going Strong at Age 74
At age 74, Louella Mims is far too young to retire. The Home Instead® Care Professional of the Month has plenty of reasons to stay on the job at owner Julie Castle’s award-winning franchise in Clearwater, Florida.
Louella, who has served seniors on behalf of Home Instead for the past four years, said:
- “I’ll work until I can’t work any longer. When you sit around at home and do nothing, you age faster, get sick more often, develop more wrinkles and decline in other ways. In addition to my job, I go to the gym every day.”
- “I am the kind of person who likes to work; I do it to the fullest. I am never late to a job.”
- "I’ve always had a big heart and treat everyone as I’d want to be treated. When they send me out as a fill-in Care Pro, the clients always want me to come back. I tell them, ‘I would if I could. I have four regular clients.’ ”
Caregiving always has been in Louella’s blood. She grew up in Evergreen, Alabama, a town of 4,000 in southern Alabama that sits about 35 miles north of the Florida-Alabama state line above the Florida panhandle. “When I was young, I kept busy after school,” Louella recalled, “I went around the neighborhood to help all of the older people with whatever they needed. I’d also help others who were in need.”
Louella is part of a large close-knit family. She is the youngest of 17 children. “My brothers are all gone. I have two surviving sisters. One is 86, and she has dementia,” Louella said. A compassionate caregiver who is available 24/7 to her family for advice, Louella recalled a phone conversation with one of her nephews. “My sister – his mother – was confused and wanted to go to bed too early, in the afternoon that day, and he asked me to talk to her. So, I talked her into staying up longer and going to bed in the evening when she usually does,” Louella said.
The advice dovetailed with the common dementia confusion that Care Pros often face. Louella said, “Repetitious questions never bother me. To help someone with dementia, you have to have patience. I have patience, and I think patience comes naturally to some people – or it doesn’t. For instance, I like to fish. That takes patience.”
Louella’s work career has included jobs at three Atlanta hospitals, private-duty caregiving situations, hotel work in Clearwater Beach, 10 years at a Clearwater-area psychiatric hospital and opportunities with a temporary services agency. She was working for the temp agency when she learned about Home Instead.
“Rachel called from Home Instead and asked if I would be interested in working for them. She asked me to come in for an interview. At the interview, Rachel told me, ‘You will make a good Care Professional.’ She hired me on the spot,” said Louella, who was honored as the franchise’s Care Pro of the Month for June.
Among the considerations for achieving Care Pro of the Month status, an employee has shown he or she has gone above and beyond the call of duty, Director of Care Professional Services JC Crady said. Empathy and compassion are taken into account for the award, as well as skill and wisdom for dealing with challenging situations. Louella embodies Home Instead’s guiding principles of “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.” She is someone who is exceptional at her work with any client, JC said.
Louella has four regular clients. “They all have a good sense of humor,” she said. “One client asked one day, ‘Are you here to babysit me?’ I told her, ‘No. I am here to help you.’ When my shift ends with a different client, she always tells me. ‘I love you.’ I always reply with ‘I love you more,’ and we laugh.”
Louella loves being a part of the Care Pro team for the Pinellas County franchise, a member of a network comprised of 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.
All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (727) 799-1400 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
