Maria F.

1. I decided to become a caregiver after retiring from a corporate job of 25 years and my children had grown up and moved on. I realized I wasn't ready to "retire". The idea of becoming a caregiver sounded like something that would be an outlet for my "nurturing" nature. 2. Caregiving gives me great satisfaction and a feeling of peace and contentment as the things I do to help others means a lot to them. I love that I help people be in control of their lives while ensuring their safety, health and comfort. My personal feeling of well being increases when I am helping others. 3. Something I'm proud of is working with a lady who'd had right hip and left knee replacement surgery. She was fearful of standing, was not doing exercises and was dependent on her husband. I helped her to follow Physical Therapy prescribed exercises to increase her strength, confidence, mobility and independence. After 7 months, she could walk with confidence using a cane and do activities of daily living. She was even able to return to sleeping in her own bed which required climbing 12 stairs. 4. About me: I am a lady who is energetic, healthy, physically fit, very personable and I have a fun sense of humor. I am also dependable and trustworthy. I have two grown kids. I have a lot of compassion and empathy for people I am caring for. I am a great cook and homemaker. I have lived in the Portland area all my life and love it here. I also have a very reliable car!

I believe that I am an excellent care taker do to the fact that I have had 10 years of experience in this field, of which there is no substitute. During this time I have encountered a host of challenges that I feel I have handled brilliantly. I feel that I am a seasoned, highly qualified candidate for this position. What I am particularly proud of is that I frequently took on the challenging task of working intently with the available Alternative to Work Programs that my house residents attended daily. Working conjointly with managers and employees of these establishments I was often needed to help with i designing highly individualized work activities for the clients I was responsible for. The design parameters of these individualized work programs had to meet the wrap-around needs of the client, often having to problem solve situations that proved to be highly complicated. This was often a challenge, for if the resident became un-interested in his/her work, or otherwise, disengaged, then what ensued was a set of behaviors that tended to be counter-productive to the individual and to the group environment as a whole. If the tendencies/behaviors were not subsequently dealt with successfully, in a timely fashion, then the resident would be sent home prematurely thus, missing out on his/her potential income of a “full” day's work.