Amber’s Start in Senior Care: She Helped Her Grandmother
Home Instead®’s longtime motto is “To us, it’s personal.” Appropriately, so it also was with Amber Dollyhigh three years before she became a Care Professional with Home Instead of Mount Airy in 2013. Amber’s first taste of senior care truly was personal. “My grandmother ended up with dementia and needed someone to help her, so I assisted her with her daily needs,” Amber explained.
She added: “I wanted to make sure my grandmother could stay home and around here with us. I took care of her during the summer of 2010 until she was placed in hospice care and passed very soon after. I knew other seniors were in exactly the same situation, and if they didn’t get the assistance they needed, they’d be placed into a nursing home. I’d much rather have elders be able to stay in the comfort of their own homes.”
After Amber first came aboard at Home Instead during the early spring of 2013, she remained with the award-winning franchise until she gave birth to her daughter in December 2013. “After the birth of my daughter,” Amber explained, “I returned to Home Instead for a short time on weekends and then just completely stayed home with my daughter for a while. I gave up all of my work.”
Amber rejoined Home Instead in August 2023, and she was honored as the franchise’s Care Pro of the Month in June 2024. While announcing Amber’s award, Home Instead Staff Coordinator Sharon Bledsoe said, “When Amber came back to us, we were so happy. She is dedicated to her clients, their family members and our office team. We appreciate Amber. She also embodies Home Instead’s guiding principles of ‘Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.’ ”
Amber’s professional and family caregiving experiences are a perfect mix for her position as a Care Pro for the franchise that is owned by Van and Ann Lankford. Amber said: “I have worked in the medical and caregiving field since 2011. My jobs have ranged from caring for newborn babies – labor and delivery – to adults (OB/GYN) and then geriatric with in-home care. During the past 13 years, I’ve been involved in caring for all ages.”
Amber smiles when she remembers her start with Home Instead 11 years ago. “With my first client in 2013,” Amber said, “her personality was more than most people could handle. She was sassy and loud, and we had a good time. I will never forget her.”
She added: “In 2023, I honestly don’t think Home Instead could have matched me with a more compatible client than the one I have. We have a good time five days a week, and we never have a boring moment.”
For Amber, touching lives impacts her soul, whether she is providing physical help such as light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders or personal care or if she is offering emotional support in a companionship role.
Amber loves being a part of the Care Pro team for the North Carolina 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.
