Congratulations to our May Aide of the Month, Melissa Greiss! Melissa has been a Certified Home Health Aide (CHHA) with FCS Home Care Services for two years, receiving her training through FCS in 2016. Formerly a pre-school teacher, Melissa has taken her passion for helping people and employed it to different demographic still in need of care and compassion.

Melissa describes how working for a nonprofit holds importance to her. “I feel like giving back, not working for a company that is just in it for the money.” She explains, “At the end of the day you are making a difference in someone else’s life.”

CHHAs must complete 76 hours of specialized training, pass a competency evaluation and undergo a criminal background check before becoming certified and licensed by the New Jersey Board of Nursing.

FCS Home Health Aides put our agency’s mission into practice on a daily basis, but Melissa does not see this as a daunting task. “When you look at it, it looks scary, but it’s second nature. I know how I would want to be treated.” Melissa’s approach is to be as encouraging to her clients as possible, and she explains how going into a client’s home doesn’t feel like going to work. “We have a friendship-like bond,” Melissa explains about one of her clients, “She has such a great personality about her. She can’t wait to hear about the interview today.”

For more than 60 years, FCS has provided Home Care Services throughout Monmouth County for elderly, frail and disabled individuals.  The agency currently employees more than 60 CHHAs and supportive care aides who care for over 130 clients, a majority of whom qualify for home care grant assistance. CHHAs work under the guidance and direction of a Registered Nurse and must undergo training in personal care skills, including bathing, dressing, shopping, meal preparation, Range of Motion assistance and a variety of other tasks. The NJ Division of Consumer Affairs requires that all who provide hands-on personal care services be certified.

Melissa believes patience is the most important quality to be a good CHHA, and describes how it can feel degrading for a lot of clients who cannot manage on their own. She helps to combat these negative feelings of her clients by laughing with them and keeping a sense of everyday life. “We have built great relationships and they still get to be in the comfort of their own home and not a facility.”

Thank you for going above and beyond for your clients, Melissa, and congratulations!