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.”
Home Instead Human Resources Director Brenda Munro said: “Michelle works at a day job outside the field of professional senior care, and she just wanted part-time hours caregiving. She was hired in June 2023 and wanted to work a couple of evening shifts and maybe a weekend shift. Michelle has now been working about 30 hours a week for the past couple of months, and I honestly don’t know when she has time to sleep. Michelle is a hard worker and is so compassionate, loving and caring. She truly has the heart of a Care Pro and embodies all of our core values. Michelle ‘Builds Trust, Takes the Lead and Shares Her Heart.’ ”
Brenda also pointed out: “Michelle comes from a long background of senior care.”
Michelle elaborated: “My mother was a Registered Nurse, beginning in the 1960s, in Texas. She and two of her friends were the first three Blacks in their Texas county who were Registered Nurses. Later, my mother worked at two Denver-area hospitals, including St. Joseph. She went back to college and earned a degree in business administration and one in medical records. My dad served two tours in the Vietnam War as a member of the U.S. military, and he later was involved in work at Cheyenne Mountain Complex near Colorado Springs.”
Her parents’ use of their spare time made a big impression on Michelle. “My mom, dad and one of my aunts went around helping people in need, calling on shut-ins. Among other things, they provided supplies, and my mother changed dressings. They emphatically raised me up to always give back to society. So, when people ask me about working with seniors outside my regular job, I tell them: ‘I do it as unto the Lord,’ ” Michelle said, referring to two New Testament verses in Colossians 3. “I am just looking for a way to give back to people and be a blessing.”
Michelle, a Colorado native, moved back to her home state two years ago after spending the previous 13 years in the South. “I spent 13 years there in professional senior care. I began as a personal-care assistant. Then I moved up to clinical field supervisor and area manager for six counties in Mississippi,” Michelle said. “I also was my mother’s primary caregiver off and on for 20 years, including the last few years of her life. I promised I would not put her in any type of nursing home, and kept that promise.”
Michelle has begun to accumulate warm memories with her Home Instead clients. “I had a Home Instead client who told me awesome stories about the arts. We would listen to all of the old-school jazz artists. She would also tell me all of the inspiring stories behind her personal paintings and sculpting.”
Michelle doesn’t foresee an end to her work arrangement with Home Instead. “Helping seniors on behalf of Home Instead is part of who I am. I could do this forever. If I had to choose between my full-time job and my part-time job with Home Instead, it would be an easy decision to help seniors,” she said. “One of my favorite Bible passages is Proverbs 3:5-6: ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.’ ”
All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (720) 890-0184 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead home care services, visit our website.
