Tamara: ‘God Made Me for This Job’
Softly offering “a warning,” Home Instead® Care Professional of the Month Tamara Hemrick admitted: “I get teary-eyed when I talk about my job, which I love. For instance, I wanted to be with my client on Labor Day rather than sit at home. I love taking care of people and making a difference in their lives. It’s not just a job. As they say at Home Instead, ‘To us, it’s personal.’ I’ve always been a nurturing person. I want to keep doing this forever. I truly believe this kind of work is the reason God made me.”
Tamara joined Home Instead® of Mount Airy in October 2021, but her work with seniors began much earlier. “I have taken care of people my whole life. In private-duty caregiving, I took care of a couple for almost six years. At the same time, I took care of my aunt, who was my dad’s sister,” Tamara explained.
Then, about 16 years ago, Tamara moved in with her struggling parents and took care of them for 14 years. Tamara helped her stepmom until she died in 2013. Tamara’s stepmother was bedridden toward the end of her life, having suffered the loss of a leg because of poor circulation. Tamara was a godsend, not only for her stepmom, but her father as well.
“In my eyes, my dad was enormous in stature because of the kind of person he was. But in actual physical size, he was a small man who couldn’t take care of my stepmom all of the time. When Dad called for help, there was no question I’d come. I’d go to the ends of the Earth to help him. My stepmom was in her 70s when she died,” Tamara said.
Two years later, her father was in his 80s when he died in 2020. “Dad was a talented mechanic who took good care of his family. He was a good dad. Dad had late-stage dementia and also was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. While providing care was really tough, the experience helped me later when I was taking care of others,” Tamara said.
Fast-forward to Tamara’s discovery of the award-winning Home Instead franchise owned by Van and Ann Lankford. Tamara recalled: “I saw Home Instead commercials on television, and they resonated with me. So, after being out of the workforce for 13 years to help my elderly parents, I needed a purpose. I had grieved for about a year after I lost my dad.”
Tamara’s first regular Home Instead client had late-stage dementia. “The client’s life story would cycle continuously for four hours, but that’s OK – I always listened as if it were the first time. Patience was needed, and I have plenty of that. We got along well. She knew who I was in a sense that she remembered my face and voice but could not remember my name,” Tamara said.
Tamara’s client loved to eat, loved Tamara’s cooking and gave Tamara a worthy title: “Cook of the Year.” Tamara recalled: “I made homecooked meals for her, meat loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans. She loved sweets, and I made cobbler and pies. I don’t like to get fast food for my clients. Most clients want a good meal. Sometimes a sandwich just won’t do.”
Tamara provided more than meal preparation, light housekeeping and the other forms of assistance that Home Instead Care Pros typically offer. With the family’s and franchise’s approval, Tamara brought her own Bella, a four-pound therapy dog. “Bella is a Maltipoo. She has helped dementia clients by providing comfort,” said Tamara, who helped the client for five or six months by working from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. five days a week.
One day, when Tamara wasn’t with her client, she fell and was injured. The client went to a nursing home for rehabilitation, and her son said she had declined so much that she has stayed there permanently. “It is heartbreaking to lose a client. I get attached to each one,” Tamara said.
Tamara has shown she’s willing to travel great distances to help her clients. In fact, Tamara makes a 100-mile roundtrip to take care of her current regular client, who is 92 years old. Tamara lives in “God’s country” on seven acres of land near Westfield, North Carolina, about 11 miles east of Mount Airy. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Tamara rises at 6 a.m. to prepare to drive to Elkin, North Carolina, for shifts that run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The client fell and suffered a broken hip two years ago. She enjoyed having a Care Pro but recovered well enough to reduce her request for service from five days to three. Her daughter lives next door.
“I love her like a grandmother. She is the sweetest thing, and she is spunky and very smart. She’s very funny. She should have been a comedian. We giggle and laugh,” Tamara said. “I originally was sent as a fill-in for her regular Care Pro, who had suffered an injury. The Care Pro ultimately didn’t come back, and the office asked if I’d take the assignment, and I did. I did not care about the miles.”
Tamara added: “The client wants to go out for lunch when I am there, and I drive her. On Fridays, I take her to the beauty shop. I also take her to medical appointments. When we drive around, she shows me everything. It is such a cute town. I have thought about moving to Elkin someday. She tells me she’ll ‘live to be 150.’ I tell her, ‘I’ll take care of you.’ She introduces me to her friends at lunch. I love the client.”
On Aug. 31, Home Instead Staff Coordinator Sharon Bledsoe announced Tamara had been honored as the franchise’s Care Pro of the Month for August. Tamara 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.
All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (336) 789-4472 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
