Care Professional of the Month

Kim Pontejos had served as a medical case manager in Arizona years ago, but it was personal when she experienced the challenges of dementia for the first time with a family member. Carole, her oldest sister, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at age 65. Carole lived in California, but as the days passed, it was no longer safe for her to live on her own.

“My sister Becky stepped up to bring Carole to her home in Texas,” Kim recalled. “When Becky needed a break, Carole came to my home in Colorado. Carole no longer knew our names and didn’t know my kids. She would want to leave the house, but we would redirect her – coffee was a great distractor – and she adored sitting on the sofa with our two dogs.”

Kim added: “It was a humbling experience to see the changes taking place in Carole, and it was equally an honor to have had that time with her.”

Kim never forgot her family caregiving experience. Perhaps it was in the back of her mind when Kim made a major shift in her working career. Her previous experience had included her role as the medical case manager, working for the American Cancer Society’s Quit Line in Austin, Texas, and working for TIAA as an accountant for 13 years in Denver. From the financial world, Kim landed at Home Instead® of Louisville, Colorado, as a senior-care professional.

Home Instead^® Human Resources Director Brenda Munro has had a “front-row seat” while watching twice-honored Care Professional of the Month Cheri Funk provide compassionate care for a longtime client who lost her husband a year ago after 67 years of marriage. “Cheri has been such an important part of the client’s life while she grieves the loss of her husband,” Brenda said.

“Cheri is an extremely positive person,” Brenda pointed out. “She brings love and good energy everywhere she goes. She cares so deeply about our clients and about everyone in her life. She has an innate ability to empathize, always putting herself in the shoes of those for whom she cares. She embodies kindness and compassion, and I have no doubt she makes a profound difference in the lives of anyone with whom she comes in contact.”

Four years and two months after Cheri was first honored as a Care Pro of the Month, the Home Instead staff in Louisville, Colorado, selected Cheri for her second honor in November 2024. The award-winning Home Instead franchise, owned by Michael Lammers, assists seniors and their families in Boulder and Broomfield Counties as well as northwest Adams County.

Cheri explained: “I have been primarily working with one client for quite some time now. As much as she may challenge me and keep me on my toes, we have a lot of fun together. I feel it is an advantage for both of us that we enjoy a lot of the same things. For example, we share a love for Hallmark Channel movies, gardening, ‘Our Daily Bread’ devotions that we read together each day, eating certain foods and more.”

It was a spiritual moment, not a coincidence. When newly hired Home Instead^® Care Professional Michelle Brown walked through a client’s door for the first time nearly a year and a half ago, the client’s first words were: “I am ready for you to pray for me.” Michelle didn’t miss a beat. She did what comes naturally for her and provided a source of comfort and strength for the client. “I am a praying woman,” Michelle said. 

The client knew he didn’t have time to waste with the usual get-to-know-you chitchat – he wanted his conversations to be conducted at a deeper level. “Three weeks later,” Michelle recalled, “the Lord came and called him home. He transitioned from this world to eternity.” Home Instead Care Pros cannot initiate faith-based talk with clients, but Care Pros are free to respond if the clients ask first. When queried if any other clients had asked Michelle to pray with them or read Scripture, Michelle said: “All of them have.”

Michelle, who was honored as the Care Pro of the Month for October at owner Michael Lammers’ franchise in Louisville, Colorado, always has known her source of strength. “Before I found Home Instead,” Michelle said, “the Lord told me to search for jobs on Google. At the time, I already had a full-time job, but I felt I needed to give back to society. I came across Home Instead, where the Holy Spirit led me.”

On Wednesday afternoons, three-time Home Instead^® Care Professional of the Month Meg Chauvin drives her client to a popular establishment where he and a group of his friends gather. Her client, an outgoing 87-year-old man who treasures his camaraderie with the men, usually is ready to go home after about an hour of conversation.

Meg explained: “The establishment has been around for a lot of years, and he has his own chair with a small plaque that has his name on it. The guys’ ages range from the 60s to the 80s. Yes, there are a lot of us chaperones for these guys. I don’t usually sit with them. I let them have their space so they can talk about whatever they want.”

Meg added: “After about an hour, I will approach him and ask how he’s doing and he usually is ready to go because he gets tired. Sometimes he wants to stay a little longer. I have gotten to know several of the other men. One is blind. Another of my client’s friends asked who I worked for, so maybe somewhere down the line, he’ll want Home Instead to help him.”

In a little less than a year’s time, Home Instead® Care Professional of the Month Donna Segars already has accumulated a number of great memories while caring for her clients on behalf of owner Michael Lammers’ award-winning Home Instead® franchise of Boulder, Broomfield and northwest Adams Counties.

Donna, who joined Home Instead’s office in Louisville, Colorado, on Sept. 6, 2023, prefaced one observation by mentioning that some of her best childhood memories took place while visiting her grandparents’ Georgia farm. “As a result,” Donna said, “I enjoy my Home Instead client’s stories about growing up on a farm. He remembers having to milk the cows by hand first thing in the morning and again in the evening. He remembers the animals and the vegetable gardens.”

Donna added: “These days, my client and I spend a lot of time in his yard. I like to watch him water and care for the plants and flowers because he seems to really enjoy it. I also enjoy working with him to keep the back deck swept and clear all year. The leaves in the cooler months are extra fun and take extra effort.”

For Home Instead^® Care Professional of the Month Rebecca Ludington, every day with Mr. D., a beloved client, was an adventure. “It truly was,” said Rebecca, whose client had late-stage dementia but was a bubbly personality who was a such a creative soul. “I have loved each client with all my heart, but Mr. D. was so much fun.”

Rebecca recalled a few of their adventures:

• “We raced the halls ‘avoiding poison gas,’ and he’d tell me where it was safe to take a break and let the poison pass.”
• “We ‘escaped floods,’ and turned his bed into a ‘boat’ so we could ‘safely float away.’ ”
• During one shift, Mr. D. dressed up as the fictional Carl Fredricksen, a 78-year-old balloon salesman who is the primary character in the 2009 animated movie “Up.”
• “During my last shift with Mr. D., we spent the time planning how to ‘break out’ of the facility. There was never a dull moment with him, and shifts just flew by.”

Rachael Sprinkle had fashioned a successful 21-year career in child care, earning her Early Childhood Education and Teaching Director’s state certification and serving as a director at one Denver-area child-care center for 13 years. “At age 15,” Rachael said, “I started in my church nursery and just went from there in the child-care and preschool field.”

In November 2023, Rachael decided to pursue a second job to supplement the salary from her full-time management position at a child-care center. “My father and stepmother had worked for Home Instead^®, so I thought I would give it a try as a part-time Care Professional,” recalled Rachael, who joined owner Michael Lammers’ award-winning Home Instead franchise of Boulder, Broomfield and northwest Adams Counties. The office is in Louisville.

Home Instead Recruitment and Engagement Coordinator Brenda Munro immediately took notice of Rachael’s winsome ways with the clients and their families. Rachael was a natural at senior care, a wonderful, compassionate addition. “After working for a couple of months as a part-time Care Pro, Rachael made the move from child care to senior care full time in mid-January. She works five overnight shifts a week with the same client and does a great job. The client’s wife said she and her husband love Rachael and would be lost without her,” Brenda explained.

Rachael improvises well and has met unexpected challenges with patience, empathy and humor.

An end-of-life caregiving situation proved to be another measuring stick for twice-honored Home Instead^® Care Professional of the Month Linda Pido Duenas’s compassionate heart and professional senior-care skills. It was a test that Linda passed with flying colors.

Linda arrived at Ms. B.’s home at 7 p.m. to begin a 12-hour shift. Little did Linda know that the hospice client would pass away before the end of the shift. Minutes after she walked in, Linda assessed the situation and mentally prepared for what would be an emotionally difficult night.

“When I arrived, she was unresponsive,” Linda recalled. “She had a loving daughter and son-in-law, and they told me the situation. I understood their feelings. What has remained in my heart were their words that ‘Heaven is waiting for her.’ I said, ‘Yes,’ and the couple went to bed after her daughter had administered her mother’s comfort meds. I emphasized I would be with the client every minute. I did what I know she needed. I made her comfortable, wiped her lips, swabbed them and applied ChapStick.”

April honoree Octavio Rodriguez unquestionably deserved his title of Care Professional of the Month at the award-winning Home Instead^® franchise of Boulder, Broomfield and northwest Adams Counties. Octavio’s successful work amid unusually difficult and complex challenges “has flown under the radar” because of the need for confidentiality.

Home Instead Recruitment and Engagement Coordinator Brenda Munro said: “It’s a touchy situation, and I wish we could explain exactly why Octavio has been honored. But suffice it to say that our entire staff has been in awe of Octavio’s utmost professionalism, patience, compassion, empathy and skill. The husband and wife clients have truly benefited from Octavio’s ceaseless desire to help them.”

Brenda added: “Dementia was a factor with one of the seniors, but so many more aspects were involved, including involvement with several other entities. Octavio was the glue that kept things together. It is a super sad story, perhaps a situation in which few other senior-care workers would have continued. It has been stressful, to say the least, but Octavio did a wonderful job.”

Care Professional of the Month Jean Ringwalt has been soaring since joining Home Instead^® of Boulder, Broomfield and northwest Adams Counties about a year ago. “Soaring” is an appropriate metaphor because Jean previously had enjoyed a successful 10-year career as a corporate pilot and also taught aviation basics to young students in Kenya.

Using a different turn of a phrase, Home Instead Recruitment and Engagement Coordinator Brenda Munro said: “Jean started with a bang at our Home Instead franchise, and she has been successful with each and every client. Jean is dependable, having never missed a shift and having never been late, and she often gets compliments from clients and their family members.”

In addition to praising Jean’s skillful and compassionate work with Home Instead’s clients, Brenda also pointed out Jean’s unique résumé. Brenda said, “I remember thinking, ‘What an interesting background Jean has had! It spans from being a pilot to working with autistic children while using equine therapy to several instructional stints in Africa.”

Care Professional of the Month Tom Lierman has been a great success with Home Instead® of Louisville, Colorado, which isn’t surprising because he already had been a success as a Registered Behavioral Therapist (RBT) while helping autistic children, including his daughter.

Tom formerly worked for a Longmont clinic, which required its employees to have their RBT certification to provide therapy for children who are on the autism spectrum. Tom explained: “I homeschooled my daughter for the first eight years of school. Being an RBT helped me understand my daughter’s challenges to be more successful with homeschooling.”

As his daughter’s full-time family caregiver, Tom worked with many different therapists at Children’s Hospital, including those in the fields of physical, occupational, speech, sensory, eating, social interaction and life skills. By doing so, Tom learned his daughter’s needs and worked on her therapies through the week when she was not receiving professional therapy. “My daughter is 18, is thriving and will graduate high school this year,” Tom said. “She is considered high-functioning autistic. She has worked so hard to develop all of the necessary life skills and lessons that you would not know she’s autistic. I’m so very proud of her!”

Compassion, empathy and skilled caregiving have been a part of Minnesota native Brenda Stifel’s personality since she was old enough to walk and talk. You might say the size of Brenda’s heart rivals that of the legendary Paul Bunyan.

“Growing up,” Brenda explained, “my family was a foster family for special-needs kids. We had as many as three at a time, and it took the entire family to assist with their needs.”

Brenda also was accustomed to family caregiving for the elderly. “Both my grandfather and uncle died of cancer. During their cancer battles, they lived in our family home so the family could assist them with their care needs,” Brenda recalled. And, for a high school job, Brenda worked in the dining room of a retirement home. She said: “I enjoyed being around seniors.”