When Selam “Sal” Abai joined Home Instead® of Collin County, Texas, last summer, she’d returned to the workforce after a 6½-year absence during which she had stayed home with her two young children. When she went online to search for her first U.S. job, Sal clicked on “caregiver.” With Home Instead, the position is called “Care Professional.” It turned out that Sal and Home Instead were a great match.
Sal was “a home-run hire,” earning the Home Instead franchise’s Care Pro of the Month just months later. Sal explained: “I had done this kind of work when I lived in the United Kingdom, where I was an experienced caseworker in a 24-person private care community. Some of the residents had dementia, while others had cancer or other chronic conditions. I am a college graduate, but I was in an entirely different field. I happened to like the caseworker job.”
Sal’s elder-care experiences actually had extended back even further. As a 16-year-old, Sal had helped take care of her great-grandparents. “I was comfortable around seniors,” she said.
When Home Instead Care Pro Advocate Amanda Ross heard about Sal’s entire background during the job interview, Amanda immediately knew she had a gem. Among Sal’s many senior-care skills, she knew how to handle a Hoyer lift. Sal’s valuable experiences dovetailed nicely with the needs of the award-winning franchise’s clients.
For her part, Sal liked the Home Instead franchise’s culture. “The communication is good. Things are handled straight away. They deal with challenges quickly,” Sal noted. “And since I have two children in school, they took note of what my situation would be. Home Instead is very flexible with scheduling, so accommodating. I don’t have to find child care with this job, and I am able to take a day off if I need it. Home Instead wanted to find a regular client who was close to where I lived, and I was assigned a client who lived 15 minutes away.”
Adding up all the factors, Sal said: “Caregiving is something that comes easily for me. Right now, a 9-to-5 job would be hard with my family considerations. Working as a Care Pro is a good way to start back in the workforce. I love my job. I like giving my efforts to brighten up my clients’ days. You don’t get rich in this field, but the bigger rewards come from God’s blessings.”
As every senior-care worker knows, there’s one challenge they can’t overcome. “The only downside to this job is losing a client to death,” Sal said. “On Nov. 22, I lost my regular client, who was almost 60 and had MS. He wasn’t my first client, but I assisted him for a long time.”
Sal’s memories of the client will last a lifetime.
· “When I’d arrive, his wife would cheerfully say, ‘Sal is here.’ ”
· “He was a big rock music fan. We played his music by using Siri.”
· “He could identify each singer and group when songs started. He knew their stories.”
· “Sometimes early when I had not yet totally awakened, his music would get me going.”
· “I tried to keep things light. I would joke with him about not talking about politics or religion. Those things can get you worked up.”
· “In the final month, he told me he thought he was going to die. I didn’t think so – at least I hoped not. I told him he was too young, and I tried to be encouraging.”
Sal wasn’t with the client when he passed away at the hospital – his wife and other family members were there. “But,” Sal said, “I had been with him when it counted most. When he passed away, his wife told me that ‘he got his angel wings.’ I grew close to his wife. I updated her during her workday with text messages, and she appreciated that. It was not an interruption for her, and I was glad to do it.”
When Amanda announced Sal’s November Care Pro of the Month honor on behalf of franchise owner Todd Felker, Amanda said: “Sal is a great Care Professional. She is very attentive and detailed in her care to her clients. We are sorry that she lost her client, but we also know Sal made quite a difference in his life and the lives of his loved ones.”
All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (469) 916-9202 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website at homeinstead.com/location/278/
