“April is the definition of professional. Her professionalism has landed her with some challenges that she has handled well. She continues to amaze and impress me.” -Dawn A., April’s Manager
Tell us a little about you, April: I was born in South Bend and grew up in Elkhart. I’m
married and have three step-children—a girl and two boys. And, we nearly have a zoo at
home with two dogs and seven cats. I don’t know who I clean up after more, the kids or
the animals!
What led you to becoming a caregiver and how long have you worked as a Firefly
caregiver? I was a CNA for a long time. Well, first I took care of my grandma, then I
worked in a nursing home, then I was a traveling CNA before going to work at Memorial
Hospital, where I worked for almost ten years. When I decided I wanted to try
something different, I worked at the license branch for a while, but I found that wasn’t
what I wanted to do. While I was looking for something different, I found a post for a
Firefly caregiver on Indeed. I applied and began working for them in January of this year,
so it’s been about seven months.
What type of shifts do you work? I’m a full-time caregiver. I was working day shifts, but
now I work more nights with an occasional day shift. Yesterday, I started working a 9
p.m. to 5 a.m. shift that will be Sunday through Thursday.
Is that for one client and can you tell us a little about them? Yes, it’s for a client who is
confined to bed. While I’m there, I care for him, and then I also help with housecleaning.
I like to hear him laugh, so I do different things to get him to laugh. He makes faces at
me and tries to get me to laugh as well. It’s a way that we engage with each other. He
also likes to watch TV, and sometimes we watch the show Longmire together.
What are three of your favorite things? I like to fish. We usually go to Juno Lake. I like
to camp and I also like my garden. My mother and I work together on it and are trying to
make a business out of it. We named the garden after my grandma Rosie because she
loved her plants; we call it Rosie’s Garden Shop. This year, for the first time, we have a
booth at the Elkhart Farmer’s Market. We start flowers and vegetables and sell them
there, and from our garden we will sell produce. Someday, we’d like to have a
greenhouse and grow even more plants.
