There don’t seem to be limits to Joyce Puffinberger’s service to society. She simultaneously holds an honor title from one employer and certifications for several other jobs: Home Instead® CAREGiver of the Month, Personal Care Attendant (PCA) and Behavioral Health Technician (BHT). You also could add “family caregiver.”
Joyce, who primarily helps seniors, joined Home Instead of Martinsburg in May 2021 after hearing about the award-winning franchise from a former client at the Morgan County senior center for whom she has worked for 11 years. “I still work for the senior center, but the hours are fewer because I have shifted toward more hours with Home Instead,” said Joyce, who has used her PCA certification while working with the senior center based in Berkeley Springs.
“I have a cousin with Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). I stay with her in my work through the senior center, which contracts with VA to provide the care benefit. I drive to her house in the mornings. Her husband is her full-time caregiver, and we come in and help her while giving him a break.”
The VA also is now an option for Home Instead clients at Martinsburg as an approved provider in five West Virginia counties: Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, Hampshire and Mineral, plus Martinsburg itself. Franchise owner Keith Clay said: “Through our Winchester office, we have long been dedicated to taking care of brave Virginians who answered the call to protect this great nation. We are excited to extend that tradition with the veterans of our communities in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.”
Meanwhile, Joyce serves as a BHT for a health system that is based in Martinsburg, where she works 10 to 15 hours a week with women who deal with behavioral challenges. As a BHT, Joyce works primarily with one client who is younger than 35.
When asked about her origins of her caregiving career path, Joyce revealed: “From time to time as a teenager, I was a family caregiver who helped my grandma. I cleaned her house, doing chores like housekeeping but never helping her with other aspects of care such as personal care.”
While not using the word “chef,” that’s what Joyce did quite successfully for a number of years at several restaurants and eating establishments before she entered the caregiving realm.
As a professional cook, Joyce is responsible for meal planning and preparation, as well as the supervision of other cooks. “I did that for a good while,” said Joyce, also offering: “One Home Instead client loves to have me prepare fried chicken tenders and mashed potatoes for her, and sometimes I make pulled barbecue pork and meat loaf. She’d eat chicken every day if she could. She’s an interesting lady who has been married for 65 years. The client’s husband is his wife’s full-time family caregiver.”
Joyce’s Home Instead experience has been a good one. Following the recommendation of Home Instead Office Supervisor Nina Eastham, Allyson Starling, who works in the franchise’s human
relations department and in recruitment and retention, announced Joyce had been honored as the February CAREGiver of the Month.
“I love Home Instead and its clients. I love meeting new people,” said Joyce, whose face lit up when she talked about relationships, coincidences and memorable moments. “I grew up in Great Cacapon and still live there. I have helped a retired Navy officer in Shepherdstown who knew one of my neighbors, which goes to show it’s a small world. We marveled at the commonality. With another client, I pushed him in his wheelchair through the subdivision to get his mail one day. It meant a lot to him to get him out of the house on a nice day. Small things like that can turn out unexpectedly to be a client’s pleasure. He was thrilled I did it.”
Joyce enjoys her night shifts with a 24/7 widowed client who is nearly 90 years old and lives with a family member who is still in the workforce. “The client had a medical episode and needs a little help. I’ve been with her maybe a couple of months. There is no dementia to speak of. I assist as she gets up about three times a night to use the bathroom. She gets right back to sleep most of the time. Since she was in a medical field, she has an understanding of what she faces and needs to do. I love them, the client and her family member.”
Joyce loves being a part of the CAREGiver team for Keith’s franchise, 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. “I want to stay with Home Instead. There are lots of opportunities for shifts and chances for me to meet interesting people,” Joyce said.
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (304) 263-4472 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
