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Caregiver Profiles
Sherry Keller Sherry Keller has been a caregiver at Senior Miniums: Lake Terrace East & West for many years. In her role as a caregiver, she exemplifies leadership, compassion and extraordinary care. She uses humor and kind persuasion to get residents to take their medications and to get those with Alzheimers to comply. When one of the residents is about to pass, Sherry is in the room with the person, holding her hand, stroking her face and speaking to her. This has been tremendously comforting to the families of those residents. After they pass, she is still there (and has come in on her days off) with the resident, making sure she is presentable for the family and saying a heartfelt goodbye. You will not meet a more devoted caregiver. Sherry has a sparkly, bubbly personality and takes changes with a positive attitude. To meet Sherry is to love her. She has touched many lives and left her footprint on many hearts! Submitted by Cynthia John, October 2007
Starr Krause It's hard to imagine the mayor or the governor aspiring to be a personal care giver. But that might be the best thing to happen to them, at least according to Starr Krause. "I hope you all have the chance to do this wonderful, rewarding work," she told an audience of more than 300 people, including Governor Jim Doyle and Mayor Tom Barrett, at the Milwaukee Aging Consortium's Annual Excellence Awards luncheon in July. Starr may have been the only one who was surprised when she received the Milwaukee Aging Consortium's Distinguished Caregiver Award for 2007. If your mother or father needed a caregiver, Starr is who you'd pray to find. Everyone agrees that she brings special grace to her calling. "Regardless of how difficult or demanding the clients were, her unconditional love and caring for everyone was the key to her success," said Marilyn Lange, who nominated her and who was her first supervisor 30 years ago. "No holiday went by without Starr making sure that the day was special for clients without family of their own." Her most recent supervisor at Aurora Adult Day Care, Molly Bartelt, agrees. "Starr has given so much of herself and her time to our participants. She's a tremendous example to us all of how to treat people with dignity and respect." Warm, bright, and gentle, she kept a sharp eye for signs of change in the dementia patients with whom she worked until her retirement in July. She also encouraged each one to perform at the highest level possible. The Consortium's Caregiver Retention Project aims to create more Starr Krauses -- people who enter the field, develop their skills, and create fulfilling life-long vocations in caregiving. It's about time for caregivers to be respected, recognized, and aptly rewarded for the vital work they do. September 2007 |