“I want to make people feel good and happy. I’ll do whatever I can to do that for people.” – Madison L., Firefly Caregiver
Share some details about your life: I grew up in Elkhart, then we moved to South Bend, which is where I graduated from high school. I’ve lived my whole life in this area. I’m very close to my family. I have two older siblings—a brother and a sister—and we hang out together every chance we get.
What is something unique about you? I love giraffes. I relate to them because they are tall and awkward, and I’m also tall and can be awkward. Some of my family is also tall. My brother is about six-foot-five and one year my sister and I got him a life-sized stuffed giraffe. He named the giraffe Doug and my brother still has him!
Has anything interesting happened to you recently? I recently bought a new car—well, new to me. It’s a 2002 black Toyota Highlander. I named her “Black Betty.” It’s an older car, but a good car, and it makes me very happy.
How did you discover caregiving as a career? It took a long time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I started out in a dental program at Ivy Tech, and I hated it. I couldn’t see myself looking into someone’s mouth all day. Then I tried hospitality, but I didn’t like that either. My grammy was a nurse, and I always wanted to be like her. When I saw an open position at a memory care facility, I thought that would be a good place to start. At first, I worked at the front desk, then I moved to working activities. I discovered I loved it. Helping people is a passion of mine and this gave me the opportunity to do that.
When did you join the Firefly Family? I didn’t want to leave the memory care facility. I learned a lot there and worked with great people. But I also wanted to figure out what else was out there. Someone mentioned home health care to me and I thought, that is exactly what I want to do! I applied for a position at Firefly and I’ve been with them since June 2021. I love the clients, and I really enjoy the schedule flexibility.
Tell us about some of your clients: I see about three or four clients a week. Some I see every day; others are every other day. One client, Miss June, is like a second mom to me. She offers wonderful advice. I was talking with her one day and she said to me, “You just have to take the bad with the good, and just go with it.” She was right! She inspires me to be a better person. Another client I see is a veteran. He’s so sweet and funny. We get along very well. He tells me he doesn’t know what it is about me, but he feels like he can talk to me about anything. I want to make people feel good and happy. I’ll do whatever I can to do that for people.
Do you have plans for the future? I want to go back to school to become a Qualified Medical Assistant and then an LPN. Also, I’d love to take my mom to Athens, Greece and the island of Santorini someday.
One of Maddie’s clients said these wonderful things about her: “Maddie comes to see me for two hours in the morning, Monday through Friday. Every day that she comes, I call it a spa day. I require help to get ready in the morning, and she gets me up, bathes and dresses me, combs my hair and puts lotion on me. She’s different from anyone else who helps me—she is an angel. I feel like I can conquer the world after I’ve been with her.”
