Dardi Hammonds

I would say just going through the schooling and the classes and the education that I needed to earn my certificates has been important, because I have found that even though I'm not doing an activity program like I would like to do where I was before at the VA, I'm still seeing my abilities to be able to offer to people. Certifications are great, but they're only great if you can use and enhance them more than what a piece of paper says. For a long time, I went through a grief period after I didn't have that job, but my closest friends have told me that I'm still utilizing what God has given me to do. I would say all of that - just having the knowledge and the desire to continue to do what I am doing. It's really a hard season, but I've seen lots of people in my career pass since 2013 from the disease, and it's both personal and professional because my mom had dementia and passed last year right before my birthday. But I've been through a lot, and God isn't done with me yet. I'm a woman walking by faith.

My old boss, John Young, told me I was going to be someday filling his shoes when I was his activity assistant. I was like, you're crazy. But he saw something in me and trained me to become an activity director. I also have a couple ladies here that are like coaches to me - I don't see them as a coach, they're just my friends, but they have given me very wise advice. One of them, Crystal, is giving me advice to help write my book, and the other one, Stephanie, gives me life advice. John, Crystal, and Stephanie have definitely helped me get to where I am. My oldest son also encouraged me in a meaningful way - he bought me a journal for Mother's Day called 'Mom, I Want to Hear Your Story, a mother's guided journal to share her life and love,' which was like a starting place for me to write my book. He's a behavioral therapist and a social worker, so it's natural for him to be like that.

I would suggest that they need to believe in themselves that they can do a job and do it well, and to make sure that their heart and mind are in it to win it. There are lots of caregivers - I see this in facilities, I saw it yesterday - that just are there for a job. They do okay, but they could always do better with heart. But if you're in it just for a paycheck to paycheck, that is not the real reason to be in a caregiving role, because it's about the people. I think that's hard to distinguish until they figure it out. I didn't have all the answers, I still don't have all the answers. But if somebody were getting in a caregiver role, I would encourage them that that's great, and I would love to see how you develop there. Give it a shot, encourage them and empower them to let them know that they'd be okay, but if they decide that that's not the goal for them, then to keep searching in their heart for whatever they find is the right suit for them. Caregiving or not, you have to love what you do, because if you're doing it just for a paycheck, anybody can go get a job just for a paycheck. You have to have some kind of heart. My caregiving came through my dad and my mom, going through the health problems that they both went through, so I see it differently. I started out when I was young in a nursing home, and it was just a paycheck - my heart wasn't in it. So I've been on that side, too, where you're just going and it's just a paycheck.

The biggest challenges come back to finding the people that really want to do this work, and then also making sure that the seniors have the help that they need. People think that when someone goes on hospice they die right away, but it took me forever to learn that hospice doesn't mean that they die right away. Seniors need more services available to them, period, whether they're in a facility or not, and they're not getting them. Same thing with kids on the flip side - kids aren't getting what they need either. I think our world, our government needs to factor into that. They're starting to broaden better, but we're not where we need to be. It comes to that they need more help. Everybody needs more help, but there's only so much that anybody can really do. You have to search for it, pray for it, I don't know.

The most important values to me are compassion, faith, family, and making a positive difference in people's lives. I believe helping others with love, patience, and dignity is one of life's greatest purposes. I'm a woman walking by faith, and I believe that God has given me abilities to serve others. My caregiving came through my dad and my mom going through the health problems that they both went through, so it's both personal and professional for me. I've been through a lot - I'm a two-time open-heart survivor, and my mom had dementia and passed last year right before my birthday. But I've seen that my life has been changing, and I've been helping in a service kind of way, and that seems to be opening windows and doors that I didn't expect. I also value spending time with my grandkids - I have three grandsons, and I love living close to them because not everybody gets to do that. I'm involved with Tapestry Network, a women's community group where I'm a leader, and we had a prayer call this morning which was really nice. I also enjoy my emotional support dog, Rusty, who's a Bernie Doodle. Looking forward, I plan on writing a book - whether it's going to be a memoir or a full book, I haven't quite decided - and I'd like to eventually grow my business to be able to kind of retire from it so that I can do other things with my husband.