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Home health aide’s mom also client

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By Beth Anspach, Contributing Writer 11:22 AM Thursday, May 19, 2011

Dee Downing is a self-professed “people person.” Living in east Dayton near Riverside, Downing has always loved working in jobs that involved people.

“I have managed motels, tended bars and worked in rest homes,” Downing said.

Accustomed to working several jobs simultaneously, Downing also worked long hours, so a friend suggested she might like home health care. “I had been working for a home for the mentally and physically impaired, and I left there to work for an agency,” Downing said.

“I loved going home to home and meeting people from all walks of life. But that first company ended up going out of business.”

Downing’s own financial difficulties lead her down a different path and to a new company — Home Care by Black Stone — where she is employed today.

“I had lost my home and car and had to file bankruptcy,” Downing said. “But, believe it or not, I found a new job with the new company, and have been happy ever since.”

Downing provides nonmedical services to people so they are able to stay in their own homes. “I help people with baths, cook meals, clean their homes, run errands for them, do laundry and assist them with whatever they aren’t able to do for themselves,” Downing said.

According to Amy Chilla, a Black Stone representative, something unique about Downing is that she also is a caregiver through the company for her own mother, Wanda Jean Cox.

“Some time ago, Dee’s mother was going through some tough times, and as a professional caregiver, she noticed when her mother’s needs for physical help required assistance,” Chilla said. After two full knee replacements, back surgery and ongoing heart issues, the fit seemed great. Dee’s mother moved into her home, and for three hours every day, her mother is her client.”

In addition to her mother, Downing has 11 clients she cares for each week, which keeps her busy about 12 to 13 hours a day.

“I would rather work 20 hours a day than have to see these people go into nursing homes or group homes because there is no one to take care of them,” Downing said. “You have to love what you are doing because we don’t get paid a lot. If you don’t love it, then don’t do it. I’m so fortunate, because I get to meet people from all walks of life.

Correction

Correction to the May 5 Hereabouts column about Campfire USA: The agency currently serves 60 to 80 children in Montgomery County only due to budget cuts. The counties served and numbers of children stated in the column were accurate for the year 2001.

Contact this writer at (937) 475-8212 or banspach@ymail.com.

HEREABOUTS beth anspach

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