At-home caregiver makes postive impact

7/31/2024

Julie Collins is an at-home caregiver for Right at Home Des Moines, which specializes in at-home care for patients. Collins, who was born and raised in the Beaverdale area, has been working at the organization for six years. 

Her daily duties involve helping her clients with bathing, grooming, dressing, laundry, managing medications, mobility assistance and more. She was recently named the Regional at Home Caregiver of the Year out of 25,000 other potential awardees. 

Collins says she entered this line of work because she’s passionate about helping others in her community in the best way she can.

“Taking care of people and giving back in any way I can is what I’m most passionate about. Being able to make a positive impact on the lives of the elderly and disabled people I care for is so important to me. I love knowing that just showing up brings a light to their day because of the care and compassion I provide them,” Collins said.

Not only has she done extensive work in recent years that earned her the Caregiver of the Year award, but she says her patients have helped her in a major way as well.

“After losing my son, I didn’t take much of grievance time for myself. It was the worst feeling that is hard to explain when you lose a child, but my clients needing me filled that hole that was left open from my son’s passing,” Collins said.

In part, knowing that her clients relied on her to be there for them — and the positivity they supplied her within the wake of her son’s passing — helped her tremendously. 

“They kept my mind busy with laughter, positivity and a bright outlook to my day. Honestly, knowing that I did what I could for my clients to make sure that their needs were taken care of and that they were happy truly helped mend my heart and mind,” Collins said.

Her coworkers had a fun way of surprising Collins with the award. She was told she forgot to fill out some logs and needed to return to the office.

“I knew that sounded strange because I always do my paperwork on time,” Collins said.

Once she entered, she was greeted with a celebration by her coworkers, alongside a cake and many congratulations that brought Collins to tears. 

Having such a strong relationship with her clients and being in the field for as long as she has, Collins has collected several stories over the years. One is of a recent trip to McDonalds.

“I normally take my 97-year-old client for a walk by pushing her wheelchair. We walk a couple of blocks or so every week. On this one morning, she really wanted an ice cream cone and asked if there was any way we could get one. So, I pushed her about a mile to the closest McDonalds that I knew had an ice cream machine only to find out that the machine was broken. We both ended up laughing since we walked a mile there and now had to walk a mile back with a fish sandwich instead,” Collins said.

Such moments of laughter come often for Collins. 

“Another story I have is when I was taking care of my 98-year-old client who had a doctor’s appointment. For this particular appointment, he wanted me to park his car and requested to walk alongside of me,” Collins said. “After his appointment was finished, we couldn’t find his car. We ended up having to push the alarm on the key fob, but, by doing that, it ended up setting off three different vehicles. We both started laughing, and he stated, in his 98 years, he’s never lost his car and counted on me to remember. I’ve never seen him laugh that hard, and it was worth losing his car in the parking lot for 15 minutes that day.”

She admits she never got into this line of work for recognition and that her clients got a bigger kick out of the award than she did, but perhaps that’s another reason why Collins excels in her job.

“I love experiencing these moments with them daily, and it brings a huge amount of happiness and fulfillment to my life. It’s why I love what I do and will continue doing so until I physically can’t,” Collins said.