When it comes to SYNERGY HomeCare, you may have heard of The Aabergs, maybe even met a few of them, but they’re not the only family that makes up the caring and supportive SYNERGY HomeCare of Central Illinois team! That said, this is just a fraction of info about those other families and some of their stories!
One of the “First Families” of our amazing staff is “Team Hedin,” the mother-daughter duo out of our Bloomington-Normal office. Aggie first came on with us back in January of 2017, and has been doing absolutely amazing things to grow our office these last 4 years! While Sierra on the other hand, has spent several summer and winter vacations interning with us before coming on as a full-time “Jack of All Trades.” In her role she has been able to support and fill-in across the entire Central Illinois Region this past year. All of this travel may have helped the relationship as mother-daughter began working together for the first time.
“At first, it was hard to leave the mother/daughter roles at home. Now that we are in a routine it is a lot easier to work together and not get on each other’s nerves,” were Sierra’s sentiments.
Aggie’s were rather similar, “It’s hard not to go into Mom mode sometimes when something needs to be corrected.” But the two make it work and were never apprehensive about the budding side of their newfound relationship in the first place. When asked about it, Aggie added, she wasn’t nervous at all, “we both know how each other thinks and know each other’s habits, strengths, and weaknesses.”
Sierra reflected that feeling, “Honestly, I was very happy to [work with Aggie]. Aggie is one of my biggest role models in life, and I would be lucky to have half of her talent and compassion for others.”
Working together as administrators can seem pretty straightforward, but certainly presents its own challenges if you’re the Hedins. But what about having to manage your own Mother? Well, that can be a whole different story.
This is where we introduce Taylor Spada, our Springfield Client Care Manager, and her mother, Cynthia Emerson, one of the office’s most diligent caregivers, and their January Caregiver of the Month!
While Taylor may have started first, she says of Cynthia, “She has a heart of goldand she loves to share that with others . . . [she] went into a home where a family just had their whole life flipped upside down and created a sigh of relief. I got a phone call from this family the week she started, and they were just overjoyed with the help and comfort that my mother had been providing them.”
But for Cynthia these experiences aren’t just her own, and her favorite part about working together is that, “we get to share these life changing experiences and work together to create a solution.”
Then there are families like the Petty’s who don’t just work for the same company, they work together, as caregivers out of our Urbana Office. Jerome started with us first, back in August of 2020, but instantly made a splash with many of his clients as well as the office staff. Jerome was always flexible and willing to help. Soon this flexibility brought his wife Amanda to the team in January of this year. Together their flexible schedules allow for more time with their two boys, Nate (8) and Isaiah (1).
Not only that, but it’s given both the chance to share their passions with their clients. Jerome is very artistic and loves to draw, while Amanda loves cooking, and enjoys sharing her talent for cultivating nutritious meals with her clients. Together, since they started dating at Urbana High in 2009, they are a power couple of caring, and we are so glad they have merged their budding little family with our own!
Lastly there is a completely unique relationship between one of the SYNERGY Families. That between our very first employee all the way back in 2013, Director of Client Care, Betsy Benjamin, and her mother who is affectionately known as PJ. (Also known as our number one fan.)
For Betsy it can be hard trying to work on projects with a mother who calls Florida home these days, but for PJ she raves about the good times they have writing commercials together. “It is such a pleasure and a blessing to be able to share time and effort together with my daughter, and I take enormous pride in the work she does for this wonderful caring organization called SYNERGY HomeCare of Central Illinois.”
While we couldn’t agree more, we wanted to end on an especially beautiful affirmation from Taylor to her mother that we would love to share with every caregiver out there.
“Each day you wake up, be proud of the person you are. You are the most beautiful, selfless, nurturing, and kindest person. Be proud of the comfort you provide to others. You truly change lives, and never ever forget that you matter.”
