Our August Aide of the Month is Chantel Davis; a longtime employee of Blossom, and someone who truly loves the work she does as a Personal Care Aide (PCA). Chantel celebrated nine years with Blossom in July, and we could not be happier to have someone with her passion working alongside our clients for the past nine years.
Chantel has 4 children (3 boys and 1 girl) ranging from age five to age twenty, and a toy Yorkie puppy. As a self-proclaimed home body, when she’s not working, Chantel enjoys staying home, watching movies, cartoons, and especially her favorite show, “Golden Girls.” Chantel’s daughter recently moved out of state, so she is currently adjusting to life with just the boys at home. “My son just started football, so this is something new for me. He's going to high school, so I'm trying the whole ‘mother of sports’ thing”, Chantel says with a laugh. Chantel has always lived in the Rochester area and plans to stay here. “I don’t want to be too far away from my babies. If something happens, I want to be here.”
It was Chantel’s sister that urged her to pursue a career in home care. Her sister was looking to get her PCA certificate, and convinced Chantel to do the training with her. Although her sister now works with another company, Chantel is grateful that she led her down this path. She jokes, “I was like, ‘you had me start this with you, then you leave me?’ But I'm glad I did it because it's fun.” Chantel has grown to love this field more with each passing year. She enjoys meeting different people, helping her clients clean and organize their homes, and helping her client shop for birthday presents for her grandkids. She shares, “I don't think I've really had a client that, it was like, ‘oh my God, no. I can't be here.’ Most of my clients that I'm with, I've been with them for a while.”
It is Chantel’s family that inspires her to keep doing her best each day when she goes to work. Chantel uses what she has learned at Blossom to help in her personal life when it comes to caring for her grandparents. Chantel has been able to offer her mom helpful tips about dealing with someone with Dementia and is always reminding one of her grandmothers to drink water and put her feet up. When she’s not taking care of her Blossom client, Chantel is spending time taking her grandma shopping and accompanying her at appointments.
When we think about our Core Values here at Blossom, it’s obvious that Extending the Family is one that Chantel practices every day, not just at work, but in her personal life as well. To Extend the Family means that we extend to our clients and to each other the same care, concern, and support we should give to a loved one. “I always think of my family being in the shoes of my client because I love my family so I want the best for them. I look at most of all my clients like, OK. What if this was your mom or your grandmother? Your aunt, your uncle? How would you take care of them? Or how would you want someone else to take care of them? So that's how I go in.”
Chantel shares this advice for anyone who is looking to enter the home care field, “If you're not dedicated to what it is, then don't do it. But it's a wonderful job, it's very wonderful. If you don't like it, you're not going to treat the people right and you're not going to like the job. You have to love what you do, and I love what I do.”
We couldn't agree more, Chantel! Thank you for all you do.