Family Caregiving Experiences Prepared Jasmine for Job
Jasmine Surun-Vallejo is a natural-born caregiver who always has been comfortable with assisting people of all ages, and some of her caregiving has been intense. She has been an award-winning Home Instead® Care Professional for a little over a year. “I’ve always been eager to help everyone, from children to the elderly, so it was a no-brainer taking the Home Instead Care Pro position. I’m very compassionate about helping others,” Jasmine said.
Her caregiving background provided a tremendous foundation for the multiple skills she uses to help seniors on behalf of Home Instead of Clearwater, Florida, a highly successful franchise that serves Pinellas County, where Julie Castle is the longtime owner and Colin Castle serves as the vice president.
“I come from a Hispanic household. I grew up with my abuela (grandmother) living with us. She has a few health issues, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and more challenges. From a young age, I’ve wanted to be helpful and learned how to help if her sugar levels became too low or if her blood pressure skyrocketed. Even as a child, I became her personal reminder to take her medicine,” Jasmine explained.
There have been more family caregiving challenges for Jasmine involving older senior loved ones – her mother has epilepsy. “That affliction factored in as a big part of my childhood. I would watch my mom have seizures at any random moment, and I learned how to remain calm while also helping her to the ground safely so she wouldn’t get injured during the seizures,” Jasmine said.
As the mother of a 4-year-old son, Jasmine has served as a de facto physical and speech therapist while acquiring all of the techniques she needed to help her child. “I have an amazing 4-year-old who was diagnosed with Autism Level 2, which means he is someone on the autism spectrum who requires substantial support in daily life because of significant challenges in social communication and interaction,” Jasmine said.
“I took two years off from the workforce to tend to all of his needs and help him with many aspects of development. Among his challenges were his speech and personal care, helping him to just be able to do everything that children in his age group could do. With hard work and dedication, along with the preschool Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy and speech, I learned the tools to help him. Now he can say his a-b-c’s and count his numbers, and he knows sign language. He is talking more and more by the day and able to participate in everything just like every other child.”
As far as professional senior care goes, Jasmine found Home Instead as she was graduating from high school. “I applied to Home Instead when I was 18. However, I did not have a driver’s license at the time, but the Home Instead staff member who did my interview loved me and said I had the job as soon as I had my license,” recalled Jasmine, who had worked at a preschool before becoming a Care Pro. Home Instead honored her as Care Pro of the Month for January.
Jasmine added: “I absolutely love being able to help in any way I can, whether it’s being more of a companion who is a listening ear or providing more hands-on care. I enjoy hearing all of my clients’ stories and sharing laughs that brighten not only their day but also mine. I also am very fortunate and appreciative that all of my clients treat me like family and never fail to mention how much they appreciate me as I do them. I look forward to seeing my regulars every week.”
Jasmine’s favorite story is about one of her clients who has not one but two complete Santa Claus outfits. “He also has the look of Santa Claus. Around Christmastime, he would randomly put his Santa outfit on and just brighten up everyone’s day,” Jasmine said.
“One of my clients is a bingo lover. She quickly inspired me into being determined to win, and surprisingly we have won quite a few rounds. Another client has gotten me into TV game shows. I'm very convinced he could win on a game show since he knows the correct answers almost always immediately.”
Jasmine loves being a part of the Care Pro team for one of Florida’s outstanding Home Instead franchises, members of the world’s largest home-care network and the most advanced care platform. Overall, there are more than 100,000 Care Pros across 13 countries, meeting the growing needs of millions of older adults and their families worldwide. For Jasmine and her fellow Care Pros, touching lives impacts their souls, whether they are providing physical help such as light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders or personal care or if they are offering emotional support in a companionship role.
All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (727) 799-1400 or visit our website.
