“I took the job 23 years ago never knowing it would become my purpose and love in life.”
Charissa B. knows what it’s like to need people. She also knows what it’s like to be needed.
“I suffered from depression many years ago, and the one thing that made me happy was going to work,” she says. “People needed me here. They needed my help, and I had a purpose here.”
Charissa loves her job. For her, it’s all about the people — residents she gets to help and team members she gets to work with, day in and day out.
For the most part, she works as a dining room assistant, helping residents at mealtimes. She also is a nursing assistant, so she can help out as a caregiver whenever needed.
What she loves most about her work is talking with the residents as she brings them to the dining room, helping them eat, and caring for them in many other ways.
“Seeing people who are in the sunset of life and being able to help them — I love it. They are people who have led a long life, and I learn a lot from them.”
There is great wisdom to be gained from our elders, she says, and it is a wonderful honor to be able to help them in their later years.
“It is my privilege to be able to help make a person’s last days the best,” she says. “Even though it’s hard, I love it. I come away a much better person for having been here. It’s so wonderful being in the presence of such amazing people.”
Charissa has a learning disability, but that hasn’t hampered her ability to be a vital part of the mission at CHCC.
“My supervisors have adapted to what I can do,” she says. “We all work together to get the job done in the best way possible. We are all working toward the same purpose.”
She encourages anyone with a heart for service to apply to work at CHCC. After all, it has changed her life — and the lives of so many residents over the past two-plus decades.
“If you have something to give, you can give it at CHCC, and it’s always well received,” Charissa says. “If you have a heart to give something, you will do well here.”
What started 23 years ago as just a job has become, for Charissa, a life of caring and service.
Meet the team: More bios of care team members.