God’s Leading Brought Lou to Senior Care
Lou Smith’s life changed dramatically 23 years ago when her mother passed away.
Lou recalled: “When my mother died in 1999, I felt so lost. I asked God to help me, and He took me to this journey in my life.” That spiritual leading included a pivot in Lou’s life that took her to professional senior care. She explained: “This is what I believe I am intended to do. I am doing something to help seniors. I let them know they are loved and cared for, because that’s who I am. I am doing something to give back to society.”
At a young age, Lou’s compassionate heart was evident because she became involved with family caregiving. “I helped at home. I was the 10th of 13 children. I did housework and helped Mom and Dad however I could,” she said. In college, Lou took CNA classes, but she felt at the time that CNA work wasn’t her calling. After her mother’s passing, Lou recalls thinking: “My previous line of work just wasn’t doing it for me. I needed to do something different. I tried working at a nursing home, and I found it wasn’t for me, either,” Lou said. “But I worked for a senior-care company in Springfield, Illinois, for a good while, about 15 years.”
In her mother’s final years, Lou helped with her care “a little bit.” Her mother lived with Lou’s two younger siblings. “Mom got to stay home. We all took shifts helping her. Mom was the kind of person who was always taking care of everyone else. There wasn’t anything Mom wouldn’t have done for anyone,” said Lou, who moved from Illinois to Florida five years ago and joined Home Instead® of Clearwater, an award-winning franchise owned by Julie Castle, in July 2017.
“I continue to think of my mom, as if she were here. Mom would approve of what I am doing. She’d want me to do this kind of work,” Lou said. And she has done quite well at Home Instead. In February 2022, Director of CAREGiver Services JC Crady announced Lou had been honored as the franchise’s Care Professional of the Month.
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, JC pointed out. Empathy and compassion are taken into account for the award, as well as skill and wisdom for dealing with challenging situations. Lou embodies Home Instead’s guiding principles of “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.”
Lou found Home Instead through Indeed.com. “I feel very blessed to have this job. God knows what He’s doing. There are sad times, but when my clients or former clients pass away, I think of the fact they are in a better place. As far as faith-based conversations at work, I’ve had clients who have asked me to pray with them – client-initiated. I am not saying I know everything about the Bible, but I am learning more. When I moved down here, I prayed and found my church.”
Lou works every day of the week except Sundays. “I love being busy. I have a lot of hours. I start at 9:30 a.m. and work until about 6 or 7 p.m. I take breaks between shifts. One of the things I love about the job is the flexibility of the scheduling – my other company in Illinois did not allow this kind of flexibility. You can pick and choose your hours and your people. I check out my clients because compatibility is important,” she said.
Lou has been with one client since she started working with Home Instead. “I am with this 71-year-old lady six days a week from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. She likes to talk a lot. I help with her animals, three cats and a dog. They know me, too,” Lou said. “Another client never wanted to eat alone, so I brought my meal to eat with her. It was a special time for us. It made me feel like family. She also wanted to make sure I did not leave hungry.”
Lou loves being a part of the team at owner Julie’s franchise, a member of a highly successful network founded in 1994 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Home Instead network is the world’s leading provider of in-home care services for older adults, with more than 1,200 independently owned and operated franchises that provide care throughout the United States and 13 other countries.
Lou added: “Home Instead has been wonderful. Everyone is great. Every client has been good to me. You get what you give. I just can’t leave this job.”
Our office serves all of Pinellas County, including Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, Palm Harbor, Dunedin, Safety Harbor, Oldsmar, Largo, Pinellas Park, Seminole, Belleair, St. Petersburg, Gulfport and surrounding beaches. All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (727) 799-1400 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
