I Am Visiting Angels: Amy Rowe
Amy Rowe has been part of the Visiting Angels family for over six years. She started as a live-in caregiver and eventually transitioned to an administrative position in our Joplin office. Amy works mostly in billing, but she serves our clients in a variety of ways, helping with everything from paperwork to caregiver training.
Even before she joined Visiting Angels, Amy knew she had a heart for the elderly. She helped care for aging family members, especially her grandparents, when they were sick. She’d also gotten to know her great-grandfather’s caregiver and had seen how that person became like another member of the family.
While her position with Visiting Angels started out as a job, it soon became clear that she was making a difference in people’s live and her work took on a whole new meaning. Amy spends about half her time on the accounting side and half on the caregiver side. In accounting, she works mostly in billing and billing processes and helps clients set up payment plans. On the caregiver side, she reads notes from caregivers and follows up with client phone calls. She makes sure all our shifts are covered, interviews potential caregivers, trains employees, and participates in community events.
Amy works behind the scenes to take care of all the details for our caregivers and families. One of the most rewarding aspects of her job is helping match the right caregiver to the right home. Visiting Angels places a high priority on making sure our clients are cared for by someone who is a good fit for their personality and home.
It’s one of the values that sets Visiting Angels apart. We believe that providing compassionate, dignified care for the elderly starts with the relationships between clients and their families and the caregivers who serve them. “It’s a priority for us,” Amy says. “We ask, ‘Would I send this person to care for my family?’ and we go above and beyond to make sure we find the right fit.”
Amy knows how special the bonds between caregivers and clients are, and she has a passion to ensure that seniors in our care get the most out of that relationship. That’s because Amy still has strong relationships with some of the clients she served during her time as a caregiver. “My first client was like a grandmother to me. Her husband was sick, too, and I was able to serve both of them by taking good care of the wife. We’re still close today,” she said.
At the office, Amy’s work is rewarding, too, because the administrative tasks she oversees make our clients’ everyday lives better. She listens to their stories, builds bonds with them, and learns what the Visiting Angels team can do to better serve them. As some clients regress and need more care, Amy is able to help them and their families find the resources they need, even if it’s not with Visiting Angels
Another aspect of her work involves thinking about how Visiting Angels can serve our employees. Amy gets to know them and tries to learn each employee’s personality and skill set. “I ask, ‘How can we make this a rewarding job for each employee?’” Amy said. One way is by being a resource not only for the problems our caregivers face in the homes they serve, but available for their personal problems, too. Amy wants to know what’s going on in her co-workers’ lives and if there’s any way Visiting Angels can help.
When she leaves the office, Amy knows it’s been a good day when all the nuts and bolts are in place and all the processes she oversees are working the way they’re supposed to. “When all of the shifts are filled, when we have the right caregivers in every home, and when everyone is ready to succeed the next day - that’s a win.”
Although she’s been with Visiting Angels for over six years, it didn’t take long for Amy to realize that her co-workers would become like an extra family to her. From making sure she has all the training and resources necessary to do her job to offering emotional support on difficult days, Visiting Angels has taken wonderful care of her. “They recognize our achievements, and make us feel important and capable of doing our jobs well. They set us up for success. And when we succeed, we help our caregivers succeed, and then our clients succeed, too.”
If your family is considering home care for an aging loved one, Amy would love to talk with you about any questions you have, resources that are available, and how Visiting Angels might serve you. And if you’re a caregiver hoping to join a team that feels more like a family, you’ll want to talk to Amy, too, about potential opportunities to join us. Give us a call today.