FirstLight Home Care recently named Brian Roh its National Caregiver of the Year. While he appears to be a natural at his job, Roh actually found his calling later in life.
After working for 40 years as a flight attendant, he retired early to take care of his parents. He sold all of his belongings and moved to Montana. He cared for them for 10 years until they passed away.
Roh then considered pursuing caregiving professionally. He applied to FirstLight Home Care, a non-medical home care franchisor, and has worked as a caregiver for about five years — initially at the company’s Tampa, FL office, then transferring to Charlotte, NC.
“I learned a lot by the seat of my pants,” Roh said. “I was so fortunate to have FirstLight contact me. I love my clients and helping them out. I’ve never been happier. I’m in it for the long haul.”
During his time at FirstLight, Roh has worked in an array of capacities, doing a little bit of everything. His work includes, but is not limited to, caring for hospice and dementia patients, as well as those who are just coming home from the hospital.
Fostering friendships
One of the most rewarding parts of being a caregiver in Roh’s eyes is the friendships he has fostered with his clients. He is grateful to be someone that his clients can confide in and to be able to bring some social interaction and joy into their lives.
He recalled one of his clients back in Florida who played the lottery. Every morning Roh would walk two blocks down to the convenience store to get his lottery tickets. One day the client won $1,000.
“I said ‘go get your baseball cap on, we’re going to the lottery office,’” Roh laughed. “I put him in the car and off we went. We celebrated at Dairy Queen on the way back. It’s moments like that that make it so worthwhile — being able to do something for someone that they’re not able to do themselves.”
Caregiver of the Year
Roh was not expecting the honor of Caregiver of the Year. On Feb. 18, 2022, National Caregivers Day, Roh learned he was National Caregiver of the Year at a National Caregivers Day appreciation event held at FirstLight’s Charlotte, NC, office. Ken and Mary Ellen Fleming, owners of FirstLight Home Care of Charlotte, nominated Roh for the award. Matt Paxton, host of the TV show the “Legacy List with Matt Paxton,” and former host of “Hoarders,” presented him the award.
“I almost fell off the chair,” Roh said. “I thought I was just going to an open house with coffee and cookies and, low and behold, Matt Paxton from ‘Hoarders’ was there to present and I was walking around in a daze. I don’t like accolades or attention. That’s not why I’m doing this, but it’s really nice to be recognized and I adore the people I work for.”
Editor’s note: Home Sweet Home is a feature appearing Mondays in McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse. The story focuses on a heartwarming, entertaining or quirky happening affecting the world of home care. If you have a topic that might be worthy of the spotlight in Home Sweet Home, please email Liza Berger at [email protected].
