Salimata M.

I am an adult Female that has a good listening ear. I take initiative and I am physically active and strong. I have empathy and I like to put myself in my clients shoe and assist them as I would wish to be assisted, no matter the situation or the circumstances. Even if only to make them smile. That way I feel good that I have assisted and I have accomplished something today. I naturally like helping people and giving them a hand, leaving a person in a better situation than how I found them. For example, I once found a client, depressed and a year long in a wheel chair. Everyday I would encourage her to take a step, even if one. After six months of this practice; she ended up having leg braces and was walking with them plus a cane. No longer in a wheelchair. This is just one of the many achievements, over the years, that I am proud of, in helping different ages, and people from different population, achieve.

Not only do I have an excellent record for an outstanding caregiver, I am also a very calm person with a grateful heart and a smile as big as the sun which for about 20 years have brought joy and made an impact on many families I have worked with and clients I have cared for. Growing up in a Christian home back in Ghana, I was raised to treat others as I will expect to be treated. What attracted me most to become a caregiver was the man I grew up to love and called my dad. My stepfather was a gentle, respectful and a peaceful man who loved me and treated me as his own.. In his late 70's while I was already in the United states, he was diagnosed with Alzheimers and became the opposite of what we knew him to be. With zero ideas on how to care for him, I intensified my search on caring for patients with Alzheimers and dementia , I took a class through the state of Massachusetts at the Notre dame learning center in Worcester. In doing this, I was able to educate my family back home on how to better his care. What I am most proud of being a caregiver is hearing stories about what a client had been through in life with either their success, achievement, accomplishments, battles with diseases etc. and the patients will to live. Knowing that both the client and their family are trusting me completely with the care of their loved one towards the end of life and that beautiful THANK YOU CARD with words of appreciation and gratitude I receive from the family when my work is done brings me lots of joy knowing I did it RIGHT. What I enjoy most about being a caregiver is becoming good friends with my client by adopting their likes and seeing contentment in their eyes knowing that they are comfortable and safe with me around or When we make dinner together with minimal help from them yet it gives them a sense of living or when we race each other to answer question on jeopardy. or on a not so happy day when I still find a way to put a smile on their face .