Beaufort woman has worked as a caregiver for 8 years. Why she’s in the spotlight now
One of the lesser-known aspects of being a caregiver for seniors and adults with disabilities is making sure the plants get watered. But it is one that matters to Right at Home caregiver and certified nursing assistant Kimberly Speaks, 34, of Beaufort.
A few years ago, Nancy Rosen, human resources manager of Right at Home, noticed that Speaks would take on an extra shift to care for her clients at night if the Bluffton-based in-home care services company could not find anyone to staff the shift. Even if it found someone, Rosen said, Speaks would ask: But do they know what my client needs? Do they know that the plants need to be watered?
“Most people are like, ‘I need a little break,’” Rosen said. “But Kim would say, ‘My client can’t be without care this night.’ She anticipated the needs of her clients.’”
These encounters inspired Rosen to nominate Speaks for Right at Home’s National Caregiver of the Year Award.
Out of a field of 25,000 Right at Home caregivers, she won. A national conference schedule for late March to celebrate Speaks’ win was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Speaks still got to celebrate with her family when the company announced her win publicly in late June.
“It felt great to be nominated,” Speaks said. “To win was amazing.”
Speaks was born and raised in Beaufort and came to Right at Home with no experience as a caregiver in 2012. She advanced through the ranks of the industry, getting her certified nursing assistant (CNA) license through an apprenticeship program at Technical College of the Lowcountry in 2019. The CNA license enables her to perform higher-level caretaking techniques, including thickening liquids and using a gait belt and hoyer lift on clients.
Speaks said she has been taking care of her current client for the past three years.
“Most of the clients that I’m with at Right at Home, it’s for a period of time, often two years,” she said. “I’m very attached to them. They feel like family.”
In her free time, Speaks said, she enjoys playing with her nieces and nephews, visiting Hunting Island and spending time at the library, which is currently closed. But most of the time, she has to work.
Also a CNA at Coastal Carolina Hospital, Speaks said one of the reasons she got a CNA license was so that she could earn more.
“The cost of living is pretty high here,” Speaks said. “Since I’ve become a CNA, there are more things I can afford here.”
Rosen said this is a common practice among Right at Home employees, who may put 40 hours there and 20 hours in elsewhere.
Next on Speaks’ agenda is a nursing degree from TCL, starting in the coming year. But she has no plans to leave her job or the Beaufort County area anytime soon.
At Right at Home, “they treat you like family,” Speaks said. “They’re always looking out for everybody. That makes everything so much easier.”
The company received $40,000 in grant money to put 26 students through the same CNA apprenticeship program Speaks went through at TCL, which will help them make a higher wage.
“We do feel it’s our moral obligation to grow the community,” Rosen said. “Kimberly is a great example of what this is. She started as a great caregiver. Now she is a great CNA. She will be a great RN.”
This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
