Home Instead® Care Professional of the Quarter Leleo Meyer’s journey through life continues to leave a shining, well-documented trail of service to the youngest and oldest in society.
Leleo has been assisting seniors on weekends since 2012 for the award-winning Home Instead franchise in New Braunfels. On weekdays, she helps her children, working for them in the care for her six granddaughters.
Home Instead Engagement and Training Coordinator Sarina Jones said: “Leleo’s 10-year anniversary with Home Instead will be celebrated this July. She usually works only Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. But, in that time, we continually see great things from her.”
Leleo said: “I believe we all have the nurturing genes in one way or another, whether it be with animals, dolls, imaginary friends, people or other interests.”
Detailing her dive into family senior caregiving that later led to her thoughts of professional senior care, Leleo explained: “My mother-in-law had broken her femur bone in her mid-80s. After her rehabilitation, I moved in with her for a few months to help her with whatever she needed. The experience of caring for my mother-in-law opened the idea of caring for the elderly once I left a school-district job, which ended three years earlier than I had intended. I searched the internet for ‘caring for seniors.’ Home Instead was the company that drew me in.”
Every job and responsibility Leleo has experienced was a preparation for the next step of service in her life. “My professional work life started in the food and beverage world, where I was a bus girl, waitress, waitress trainer and in bar and restaurant management,” Leleo recalled. “After marrying my now husband, I changed professions to animal care where I managed and cared for other people’s horses for 10 years while starting our own family.”
Leleo added: “From there, we were able to purchase our own property in Marion, Texas, where we are still living today. During my children’s school years, I was able to get into the school district for a job that lasted 20 years. I did that work so I would have the same hours to perform my parental duties as I saw fit.”
When Leleo’s three children left home to seek their higher education, Leleo said she suffered empty-nest syndrome. “My husband, against his better judgment, agreed to try to ease my empty-nest syndrome in service of the foster-care world. Those few years allowed us to spend some time in the lives of more than 50 children, three of whom were placed in our permanent placement,” Leleo said.
Through it all, she has had a place in her heart for seniors. “For some reason,” Leleo explained, “I have always been fascinated with the elderly. I am forever reading the newspaper obituaries basically to read about the life stories of our seniors.”
Referring to her Home Instead clients, Leleo said, “My favorite times with my elderly are their stories of how they grew up, and how they compare lifestyles from their generation to our generation today. I have always been a ‘people person,’ and working for Home Instead has allowed me to spend time helping some of the most interesting of people in such a wide variety of ethnicity, discipline, social and professional backgrounds.”
Leleo’s humble service has caught the eye of many others, including the Home Instead staff, clients and their family members. Among the considerations for achieving Care Professional of the Quarter status, an employee has shown he or she has gone above and beyond the call of duty. Empathy and compassion are taken into account for the award, as well as skill and wisdom for dealing with challenging situations. Leleo 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.
In addition to her strong companionship skills, Leleo provides safety assurance, meal preparation, medication reminders, light housekeeping, and transportation and errands. Leleo offers personal assistance with eating, grooming, dressing, bathing, incontinence care, cognitive impairment, hospice support and mobility. By expertly doing so, Leleo and her fellow Care Pros not only assist their clients, but help their families eliminate worry, reduce stress and re-establish personal freedom.
Leleo loves being a part of the Care Pro team for the Texas franchise, which is owned by Jeremy and Sylvia Farber, and is 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. Leleo is among more than 100,000 Care Professionals worldwide, and she has helped add to those numbers because of her strong belief in Home Instead’s purpose.
All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (830) 624-8380 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
