After nearly 11 years with Home Instead® of south-central Houston, Care Professional Ayma Thelus Pierre is still going strong … and still winning awards with owner Greg Gomez-Mira’s franchise. Ayma recently was honored for the third time by the Home Instead office with her September Care Pro of the Month accolade. For Ayma, helping vulnerable seniors is not considered “work,” and seeing smiles on her clients’ faces never gets old.
“As I usually say,” Ayma pointed out, “being a Care Pro and receiving the opportunity to work with my lovely clients is a blessing.”
Ayma, who also was selected as Care Pro of the Month in July 2014 and December 2020, added: “I love every single person with whom I work. It’s an honor for me to work with the wonderful Home Instead staff. I’m enjoying my job, not for the money only, but for the respect and understanding the staff has for me and every other Care Pro. I want to tell the staff, ‘Thank you for your kindness, and may God continue to bless you and your families.’ ”
Home Instead Schedule Coordinator Jessica Williams said, “Ayma stepped in this summer and helped with one of our hospice clients. She’s been working with him for more than three months and has been a wonderful addition to the team. She always reaches out to see if I have work for her, which I definitely appreciate. She patiently waited for more work after one of her clients went to rehabilitation after suffering from sepsis.”
Home Instead Recruitment and Human Resource Manager Margi Kenny said: “Ayma is genuine, kind and caring. She is someone we all can count on!” Margi said Ayma’s strong, consistent and compassionate work has never deviated from the top-notch care she has provided since arriving at the Houston franchise in January 2013.
During her first eight years, Ayma had a few long-term stints with the same clients. One of Ayma’s first clients was a bed-bound and wheelchair-bound client. The client also needed most types of personal care to stay healthy and remain home. Ayma took care of her for four years, a fairly long time for home care. That speaks volumes for Ayma’s relationship skills and bonding with her clients and her ability to keep them as healthy as possible.”
That client, a woman in her 60s, had suffered a stroke and was trying to regain the use of the right side of her body. Ayma not only helped her with activities of daily living but encouraged her as she went through her physical therapy. Ayma recalled: “Some clients aren’t so nice at the beginning because they just don’t know you, but that was not the case with this woman. She loved having me there, and I loved helping her. I let her and her family know I was always there for her in any way I could help.”
Ayma has wanted to help people ever since her childhood days in Haiti, where she attended College Adventiste du Cap-Haitien as a teenager. “It’s like a combination high school and junior college,” Ayma explained. “Ever since I was little, I wanted to be a nurse. I did become a CNA after I moved to the U.S. in 2000, but I got married and had a family before I could work on becoming an RN.”
The secret to being a Care Pro, she confided, “is getting off to a fast start. If you can please someone in the first week, then you generally have won them over and it gets easier after that.” For Home Instead, Ayma has experienced a wide range of caregiving situations, from dementia clients to those who are returning from hospital stays and are trying to regain their independence. Ayma’s demeanor has been a factor in the clients’ recoveries. Office Manager Destiny Wesley said: “Ayma has the biggest, softest smile that you have ever seen, and it is very welcoming. She is one of our outstanding Care Pros.”
Margi added: “Ayma is as steady and solid an employee as you could hope for. She is rarely late and never misses a shift. Her clients have relied heavily on her for stable, quality care. While she is kind and soft-spoken, her actions speak volumes with her reliability and skills. She communicates with the staff when there is even the slightest change in her schedule or a health issue of which the staff needs to be aware.”
All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (713) 774-2215 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website
