Shirley Moved to Help Family, Now Assists Home Instead Clients
The award-winning Home Instead® franchise in Waterford, Michigan, which serves North Oakland County, indirectly benefited from Shirley’s rushed return to her native Michigan to answer a family caregiving dilemma. When Shirley came aboard, Home Instead added a highly skilled and compassionate Care Professional.
Shirley revealed the round-about way of her arrival at Home Instead: “I relocated in June 2023 back to Michigan to assist my brother. His wife has been disabled following a medical issue.” Shirley, an experienced professional caregiver, added: “Later, when I went looking for a job, I responded to a Home Instead job opening on the Indeed.com employment app. As a result, I’ve been employed as a Home Instead Care Professional since November 2023.” Eight months later, Shirley was chosen as one of the Home Instead franchise’s Care Pros of the Month.
“I have been in the in-home care profession for a few decades, and this career field has been a good fit for me. I relocated frequently during those years because of my husband’s transfers in the automotive industry. There has always been a need for home-health professionals, so I’ve always been able to get employment wherever we moved,” Shirley explained.
Shirley’s return to Michigan was a serendipitous stroke of fortune for Gail M. Wilk, the general manager at owner Glenna Yaroch’s Waterford-based franchise that also serves Clarkston, West Bloomfield and 15 other communities in northern Oakland County. Gail said Shirley perfectly models Home Instead’s guiding principles of “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.” Among the considerations for achieving Care Pro of the Month status, an employee has shown 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.
Shirley said: “What I like most about Home Instead is the office staff who always answers any questions I have regarding the care of a client. When I request some time off, which doesn’t happen often, I get the time off. Home Instead is a great company, and they frequently thank me for being a Home Instead Care Pro.”
For Shirley and her fellow Care Pros, touching lives impacts their souls, whether they are providing physical help such as light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders or personal care or if they are offering emotional support in a companionship role.
In addition to her strong companionship skills, Shirley provides safety assurance, meal preparation, medication reminders, light housekeeping, and transportation and errands. Shirley offers personal assistance with eating, grooming, dressing, bathing, incontinence care, cognitive impairment, hospice support and mobility. By expertly doing so, Shirley and her fellow Care Pros not only assist their clients, but help their families eliminate worry, reduce stress and re-establish personal freedom.
Shirley loves being a part of the Care Pro team for the Michigan 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 and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (248) 886-7300 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
