Home Instead® Care Professional of the Month Claire DeVitto didn’t need an internet job site to find her position with owner Michael Lammers’ award-winning franchise based in Louisville, Colorado, in October 2022. Good, old-fashioned word of mouth pointed Claire to the Home Instead office that serves Boulder, Broomfield and northwest Adams Counties.
Who were the key voices? Enter fellow Home Instead Care Pro of the Month Anne Wenzel, former Home Instead Recruitment and Engagement Coordinator Rianne Matthews and current Recruitment and Engagement Coordinator Brenda Munro.
Claire recounted: “I applied at Home Instead because my neighbor, Anne, was already looking into doing home care. Taking this kind of job was something I wanted to do for a while but had never gotten around to. Anne was an immediate success. She joined Home Instead on Oct. 26, 2022, and she was selected as Care Pro of the Month in January.”
Claire added: “Previously I had met Rianne Matthews at a knitting group in Lyons in 2016, and she mentioned she was the Home Instead shift coordinator at that time. I recall Rianne was very enthusiastic about her job and the Home Instead company. After COVID-19, I started thinking I would like to have a little job to get me out a bit more. That’s when I bumped into Rianne again at a music festival in Lyons purely by chance. She had moved on from her Home Instead job, but Rianne said I should contact Brenda Munro and pop in to see her at Home Instead.”
Claire noted that “this all happened at the same time when Anne talked to Brenda, and Anne recommended that I should contact Home Instead. Anne had been very impressed by Home Instead’s response to her inquiry.”
Claire sent an email to Brenda and another email to a Longmont caregiving company that weekend. “I got an immediate response from Home Instead, which made me feel very excited to go for an interview first thing Monday morning. The other company did not reply until the Monday afternoon, and its interview did not inspire me,” Claire said. “By contrast, Brenda was so enthusiastic and the whole Home Instead office was so welcoming that I felt at home right away. I signed up for the training, and the rest is history as they say.”
Claire applauded Home Instead’s flexibility. “The first few assignments were not really what I wanted, but very soon Stojanka, our client care coordinator, signed up Ms. M. as a new client and asked if I could do three shifts a week with Ms. M. It was close to my home, and the hours were 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., which suited me. I’ve enjoyed every shift I’ve had with her since I started. The family is just so nice, and I feel I’m really welcome there,” Claire said.
In August 2023, Claire was honored as Home Instead’s Care Pro of the Month. Focusing on Home Instead’s training, processes and procedures of successful caregiving helped Claire achieve Care Pro of the Month status. For Claire and her fellow Care Pros, touching lives impacts their souls, whether they are providing physical help such as light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders or personal care or if they are offering emotional support in a companionship role. By expertly doing so, Claire and her fellow Care Pros not only assist their clients, but help their families eliminate worry, reduce stress and re-establish personal freedom.
To build on their knowledge and experience, Claire and other Louisville Care Pros are offered the opportunity to increase their dementia-care skills by taking part in the Home Instead network’s one-of-a-kind training protocol. Home Instead’s Person-Centered Care Training for Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias is recognized by the Alzheimer’s Association® for incorporating the evidence-based dementia-care practice recommendations in these topic areas: Alzheimer’s and dementia, person-centered care, assessment and care planning, activities of daily living, and behaviors and communication.
Claire loves being a part of her Care Pro team for the Colorado franchise, a member of a network comprised of Home Instead, Inc. and its parent company, Honor. With the world’s largest home-care network and the most advanced care platform, Honor and Home Instead are revolutionizing care for older adults, their families and Care Pros. Combined, the network has more than 100,000 Care Pros across 13 countries, meeting the growing needs of millions of older adults and their families worldwide.
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, visit our website.
