Nadene Gutierrez

My name is Nadene Gutierrez and I have been a caregiver since 2007, however, I have never felt as cared for as I have over the past year while working for AmeriCare Plus - Charlottesville/Fishersville.  I feel cared for by my Team Teal family because they provide me with what I need to be a successful caregiver such as PPE, ongoing training in uncertain times and days off when I need to care for my own family.  The Team Teal Family has, in many ways, become part of my family as well.  AmeriCare Plus is advocating for you even when you don’t know it for things such as better pay, hazard pay and healthcare.  With so much negative in the world, AmeriCare Plus is the positive in my life and helps me spread the positivity into my everyday life and everyday caregiving.  Working for a company that cares about its caregivers is worth more than anything else especially during a global pandemic.

My fondest memory as a caregiver is that I was able to encourage and assist a non-ambulatory client to first have the motivation to not give up and to get out of bed and have meals at the table.  I also enjoyed continuing to provide assistance to them in the process of regaining the strength and ability to walk, enabling them to walk across a room after being non ambulatory for 2 years.   I care for my clients as if they are family because we spend so much time together and their house becomes a second home.  Every day I wake up knowing that I have made a difference in someone’s life even if I consider it to be a small gesture it can seem grand to them.  Each day my clients receive companionship, personal care assistance, a good home cooked meal, housekeeping services, shopping and a positive encounter with someone that truly cares about their wellbeing and safety.

Tomeka Johnson

My name is Tomeka Johnson; I live in Orange and work for AmeriCare Plus – Orange.  I have been a caregiver with AmeriCare Plus since 2012.  I joined the Team Teal family after losing my previous job and finding out I had to have heart surgery.  After my heart surgery, I was taken care of by both male and female caregivers during my recovery and I experienced firsthand the importance of the care in home healthcare workers provide. I then decided that I wanted to become a caregiver too and joined AmeriCare Plus – Orange.   I had the opportunity to complete the PCA class with AmeriCare Plus and achieve my dream of becoming a Caregiver.  I never thought in a million years I would be able to have a career helping others; this was also a dream of my mother’s she was never able to fulfill.

At the end of each day you have to have a smile because you know you are doing something for someone else that really matters and allows them to stay in the comfort of their own home.