Voice of a Caregiver - Kim Johnson, Personal Care Worker
Voice of a Caregiver project is designed to highlight the experiences of caregivers. In Voice of a Caregiver direct support professionals, tell of the joys and difficulties they experience in their everyday work, Each story evolves out of a series of in depth interviews and is told in the worker's voice.
Kim Johnson, Personal Care Worker
Harmony of Kenosha
My voice is not only a voice, it is a way of life. It’s the way I long to care for those in need, a gentle touch, a kind word, taking time to give of myself when I feel I have nothing left to give. My name is Kim Johnson. I am the mother to three very lovely children, a wife, sister, daughter and caregiver. I found my passion for care giving at a moment in my life when just being content seemed impossible.
I was in the middle of an abusive relationship, struggling for every breath, working as a part time cashier, when I was asked to help care for a dying family member. I was a caregiver every day from 9 pm, when I got off work, until 8 am in the morning when I would go home to my three children. I didn’t feel capable at first, until another family member sat me down to tell me that what I was doing was more precious than any treasure. At that moment, I felt more valuable then I had ever felt. So I continued on through sadness and tears, exhaustion and fear.
This was a defining moment for me. The point when I decided this was my calling, the thing that was missing from my life. We spend so much time focused on what we need to make ourselves feel better, but for me I realized it was not what I could do for me that would complete me but what I could do for others.
Not long after my loved one died, I left that bad relationship to come to Kenosha from Indiana with my children and three baskets of clothing. Everyone was concerned about what I would do for work and I was too. The concern was short lived because the first job I applied for was to be an at home aide, and by the skin of my teeth, with the care I had given a dying family member, it was enough to get me the job. From there I made the scary and unbelievable choice to enroll in college to become an R.N. Trust me when I tell you for an abused high school drop out to go back to school at the age of 28 with three children, I knew this was something I loved.
As far as my family, my children understand that I love the people I care for and that I do it for God and it makes them proud. My oldest son wrote a paper calling me his hero because of what I do. I come from a long line of women who have worked serving those in need. They are my light, one that has shown brightly before me, making my path clear. I hope that I can be a light for my children and women as a whole. When I have doubts and think about moving on to some other line of work for financial or emotional reasons, I take time to remember the families I have shared tears with, the residents who smile when I walk into a room and the appreciation that comes from people incapable of doing this work. A fullness fills my soul when I hold the hand of someone who is lonely, give that last sip of water to a dying person…it is then I know this is where I need to be…this is what brings me happiness and wholeness…this is what gives me my voice.
Being a long-term caregiver is not easy work. It can be emotionally and physically taxing. It is by no means a job you will become wealthy doing; but, it is a job choice you can be proud of. You will always have respect from family, friends, co-workers and the people you care for. Hold your head high.
