Employee Spotlight is a new Homewatch CareGivers of Crystal Lake blog series meant to surface stories of the amazing individuals behind our local caregiving service. From office workers and owners to the actual caregivers in the field, you’ll get to hear stories from our team so you can get to know the people who makes us who we are.
Brenda is the Community Care Coordinator at Homewatch CareGivers (HWCG) of Crystal Lake. In this position, Brenda is responsible for managing client care experiences and guiding potential and current clients and families through the process of finding the right level of in-home care for them. Before moving into the caregiving field professionally, Brenda volunteered with Meals on Wheels and other nonprofits serving seniors and enjoyed working with and for seniors so much that she decided to apply to professional caregiving positions. Since working in this position as an occasional caregiver and as the Community Care Coordinator, Brenda has fallen in love with her ability to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others.
Brenda is passionate about showing compassion and empathy to all her clients and enjoys being a person who can ensure that her clients and their loved ones feel seen and heard. She has a special ability to garner trust with clients and is always sure to follow through with addressing any questions or concerns her clients have. The most tangible way she makes this happen is by finding the best caregivers-clients matches based on personality, skill and experience, availability, and many other factors. This is difficult to do because it requires intuition to feel out how clients and caregivers will work with one another. She has seen much success in these pairing and when personalities don’t match up, she is great at listening to the client and caregiver feedback and works hard to make sure everyone is pleased with their pairings.
One particularly rewarding experience Brenda had with a client was when she was working doing an assessment for a client, “Janet” who is living alone with dementia in a very large home. Janet receives 24/7 care which means she has a few different caregivers. In order to make sure that Janet receives consistent care across caregivers, Brenda created a booklet of guidelines about the nuances of caring for Janet. This included a lot of tips about what types of activities Janet enjoyed and how to best care for her because she will often get confused if things are not consistent between shifts. By being able to provide a standardize set of practices for Janet, Brenda was able to ensure that Janet lives the most full and happy life possible.
Brenda has three adult children two of whom live in the area and one who lives in Florida. Her mother has also moved in with her and she has greatly enjoyed being able to spend more time with her. When Brenda is not at work, she enjoys any and all things that get her outdoors including fishing, boating, riding in her golf cart, and walking her dog. She also loves cooking and was a long-time member of a darts league before COVID.
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