When the Home Instead® client softly mentioned, “I can play the piano,” it might have been the understatement of the year. She then asked Home Instead Caregiver of the Month Betty Jo Rowe, “Would you like me to play something?” That was nearly a year ago, and it was the start of a special relationship between two Charles Town, West Virginia, residents who share a like precious faith. “We are compatible. It is a good match,” Betty Jo said.
“She loves to play her piano. She has me select Gospel songs and plays them from a music book. I’ve assisted her from the start of my tenure with Home Instead. She lives eight minutes from me,” said Betty Jo, who helps her client on Friday and Saturday mornings. “I provide light housekeeping. The main thing is companionship. She also has other Home Instead Caregivers.”
The 84-year-old widow served as a church organist for 54 years in Charles Town. She no longer plays in church, having retired from the position nine years ago at age 75. Betty Jo said, “She sings just a little while playing the piano when I am there, but mostly just plays.” When asked if they attend the same church, Betty Jo said, “Although we live in close proximity in Charles Town, my husband and I go to a church in Martinsburg.”
Referring to her assistance for all seniors and their families on behalf of Home Instead of Martinsburg, Betty Jo said: “I’ve enjoyed them in general and enjoyed helping them. I feel good about giving them a better quality of life. I now have three regular clients, including the one I’ve had since I started with Home Instead. I’ve assisted the other two for three or four months.”
Betty Jo spends five mornings a week with one of her regular clients when the client is not with one of her children. “The client is very easy to get along with, a very sweet person. When I am not with her, my client has asked her daughter-in-law, ‘Where is my friend?’ With her and my other clients, I hear very interesting stories. I love to listen to them. There’s nothing at all boring about their stories,” Betty Jo said.
Betty Jo’s Home Instead saga began Oct. 19, 2021, at the award-winning Home Instead franchise that serves West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle. “I placed a resume online, and Home Instead was the first one to call,” Betty Jo recalled. “I had previously learned of Home Instead because we were looking for help in caring for my mother-in-law on Sundays so we could go to church. I was with her on the other six days as her primary family Caregiver.”
In order to take care of her 98-year-old mother-in-law, Betty Jo had quit her longtime job of 24 years in 2020. Betty Jo had worked for Horizon Goodwill Services in Charles Town. Her mother-in-law passed away in August 2020, dying one month before she would have turned 99. “She was a great lady, and I really enjoyed her,” Betty Jo explained.
Owner Keith Clay’s franchise schedulers have been accommodating with Betty Jo’s family circumstances. She said: “My husband gets up at 4 a.m. to go to work and works until 1 p.m. He usually goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 p.m., so I want to be home to see him for a while before he goes to bed. Home Instead understands and schedules me accordingly. I work on Saturday mornings for a few hours with a client. My Sundays are off because God and family come first for us. Home Instead honors that.”
Betty Jo added, “The office staff is wonderful and patient. I am impressed with them. The communication is good. They are flexible with scheduling. I give them a week or two of notice when I need additional time off, and they make it work. They are good people.”
Allyson Starling, who works in the Home Instead franchise’s human resources department and in recruitment and retention, announced Betty Jo’s Caregiver of the Month honor for September. Among the considerations for achieving Caregiver of the Month 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. Betty Jo 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.
Betty Jo enjoys being a part of the Caregiver team for the West Virginia 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 Caregivers. Combined, the network has more than 100,000 Caregivers across 13 countries, meeting the growing needs of millions of older adults and their families worldwide.
All Home Instead Caregivers are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please apply online at www.homeinstead.com/location/733/home-care-jobs. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website at www.homeinstead.com/location/733/.
