Henrietta Ivey, Detroit, MI, licensed pharmacy technician, started out as a family caregiver then her paid PCA work grew by word-of-mouth. For her, it is all about the love and compassion she gives, the relationships she develops with her clients, and knowing she’s made someone’s life better. She hopes someone will be compassionate enough to […]
Ann Bilyeu, Grayling, MI, mother of 8, began DCW work 18 years ago at an eight-bed adult foster care home for persons with mental illness. It was a challenging beginning but she thought of it as an adventure. She now prefers one-on-one home care and says she will never give it up. In her off […]
Ardith Lee, Williamston, MI, Certified Nursing Assistant, Dementia Specialist, started out doing PCA work in a hospital neurological unit. When she later worked in a nursing home, she became hooked on working with persons with dementia. “I can’t imagine doing anything else. I have tried. I left for a while because you get tired lifting […]
Mare Martell, Grand Rapids, MI, has been doing paid DCW work for 3 years and says it makes her “blissfully happy” to be able to serve others. “I would do it for free, however, free does not pay bills.” She loves animals, has a menagerie of pets including a house chicken, and is an artist […]
Sarah Bigby, Holland, MI, Medical Assistant. Has been a DCW for 9 years. She gave it a try because it is in the medical field and offered flexible hours that allowed her to care for her young child. She stuck with it because, “It still gives me the flexibility to maintain my life and take […]
Jeremy Klimas and Elizabeth Peterson, Grayling, MI, live in a full house, blending families and three generations to make ends meet because one income as a DCW is not enough. Raised in Detroit, Jeremy joined the Air Force, did three tours of duty, one in Afghanistan, two in Iraq. He then moved north to help […]
Betty Keller, Kalkaska, MI, is a certified nursing assistant who has been a DCW for 28 years. She talks about the skills needed to be a DCW: technical skills, patience, being able to communicate with all kinds of different people and levels of mental or physical states, recognizing when a person is in trouble medically, […]
Wendy Martin, Traverse City, MI, Certified Phlebotomist, co-owns Crystal Penny Inc. Home Healthcare Company with her mother who is an RN. She worked as a quality automotive engineer for years. Then the recession hit, she was laid off and not sure what to do next. Her mother proposed moving north to help her with the […]
Therese Mukarushema, Lansing, MI emigrated c. 2004 from Rwanda where she was a nurse. Now a U.S. citizen, she at first had difficulty finding work and faced racism, discrimination, and ignorance. “Some people treat you like you are from the junk in Africa. They ask you, ‘Did you live with animals?’” Then she found home […]
Jennifer Lugo, Kent City, MI, is a Certified Nursing Assistant who is both a paid DCW and a family caregiver. She started caregiving as a teenager, with her maternal grandmother, who had cancer. She also watched her aunt take care of her grandfather with dementia in his home around that time. In 2007, she began […]
