Cassie has been at Family Resource for almost 2 years, about half of her overall time as a caregiver. Before becoming a caregiver, however, Cassie knew exactly what she wanted to do. Her innate desire to help people was heightened by seeing elders in her family and around the world needing help. “I have in my heart a compassion call and wanted to help,” Cassie recalled. It’s clear from the feedback from Jackie, the Tri-Cities branch manager, that Cassie indeed chose the right path, “Cassie is the perfect caregiver! She is professional, kind, compassionate, calming, and grounded.”
Cassie was working in fast food when she was told about an opportunity to take a sponsored CNA licensing program. The waitlist for the all-paid program was months long, so she would have to wait to get certified before pursuing her calling. When someone abruptly dropped out of the program, however, she was serendipitously able to enroll. She took the course, got her caregiving license, “felt a connection right away”, and hasn’t looked back.
“It’s inspiring how people love you back. How appreciative they are,” Cassie says. “Being able to do so much for others”, all the love you get in return and seeing people smile after helping them do simple things like putting on their shoes are just a few of the countless reasons why Cassie is enamored with caregiving. The first two years of her career were spent in a facility caring for about 40 people at a time. A colleague at the facility told her about in-home care and the intimacy of the one-on-one client experience, which intrigued Cassie. After mulling it over for a few weeks, she decided to apply at Family Resource.
“Everybody in the office was more friendly,” Cassie said. She felt at home and like Family Resource was an “amazing place to be”, especially compared to the cold, corporate, and impersonal nature of the facility. The first client she ever had at Family Resource sadly passed away last year. Cassie says the grief of losing a client is like losing a family member. Building that strong connection is something she couldn’t do at the facility, and while the weight is much heavier when a client is lost, it’s so much more worthwhile to provide intimate care and foster such strong connections.
Cassie has been caring for her most recent client since the summer of last year but feels like it’s been longer. They connected right away and have built enough trust that Cassie can now take her client to appointments without the client insisting that her son be present. “She’s really sweet,” Cassie says, “and makes me laugh. It’s really awesome to be a part of her life.”
The feeling is mutual! Among the myriad of positive comments from her clients is this one sent to us by her client’s family, “Thank you so much for all you do to make my life more livable and most important, my mom happier and safer!” And another client said about Cassie, “She should be the employee of the month every single month! That girl is amazing, and you need to hang onto her forever. She has a gift.”
When she’s not caregiving, Cassie has been fostering her new hobby of gardening and tending to her thriving houseplants. She’s especially excited for the changing of the seasons so she may fill her outdoor garden with photosynthetic life. Whether it’s people or plants, caregiving is in Cassie’s nature. She feels extremely lucky to be doing what she does, and we at Family Resource feel lucky to have her.
